SOLDIERS stormed a city hall in Turkey’s south-eastern Batman district today on the orders of the government as its own trustees were appointed to take over four more Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)-run municipalities.

Osman Karabulut, co-mayor of the Ikikopru municipality in the Besiri district of Batman, was dismissed on the grounds that he faces trial on allegations of membership of an illegal organisation. He was replaced by the Besiri district governor Sinan Asci.

The move comes after Ozalp municipality co-mayors Dilan Orenci and Yakup Almac and Baskale municipality co-mayor Erkan Acar were detained as their homes were raided in Van last week.

Muradiye municipality co-mayors Leyla Balkan and Yılmaz Salan were also taken into custody.

It brings the total HDP-run districts taken over by the government to 25.

In August the Turkish state moved against the HDP to take control of the metropolitan municipalities of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van in the country’s largely Kurdish south-east.

The actions were seen as revenge for the HDP refusing to stand a candidate in June’s rerun Istanbul mayoral election, which led to a humiliating defeat for authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hand-picked candidate the former prime minister Binali Yildirim.

Mr Yildirim lost by more than 800,000 votes to the Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu. In March’s local elections, Mr Erdogan’s ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) had also lost the capital Ankara and failed to win in Turkey’s third-largest city Izmir, a CHP stronghold.

At least 92 people were held in raids in the province of Ankara last month. Exiled former HDP activist Hazal Yasacan told the Star she was lucky after her family home in the capital was raided, with authorities looking to quiz her on trumped-up terrorism charges.

Last month it was reported that 163,000 HDP activists, elected officials and MPs have been detained since 2015.