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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey has suspended 28 mayors, mainly in Kurdish areas in the southeast of the country, because of links to “terrorist” organizations, the Turkish interior ministry said on Sunday.
Footage from Diyarbakir shows clashes between protesters and police.
The municipal leaders were suspended because of alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey claims leads an organization it calls the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Twelve of the dismissed mayors are under formal arrest, the interior ministry stated.
The decision was made based on emergency powers given to the executive branch under the state of emergency imposed after the recent failed coup of July 15.
“With the mandate given us by state decrees, the administration of 28 municipalities will no longer be with terrorists or under instruction from Qandil but with nationals who embrace this flag with its crescent and star,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, according to the official Anadolu Agency.
Qandil is the headquarters of the PKK in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region. The crescent and star are depicted on the Turkish national flag.
Ankara has accused the municipal leaders of using government resources to fund the PKK and Gulen movement. “No democratic state can or will allow mayors and parliamentarians to supply the municipality’s resources to finance terrorist organizations,” Bekir Bozdag, Turkey’s justice minister, said on Twitter.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that rooting out civil servants with alleged ties to the PKK was a vital part of the fight with the group.
On Thursday, Ankara suspended 11,285 teachers with alleged ties to the PKK. More are under investigation and the number of suspensions may rise to 14,000, media reports said.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said it would not recognize the removal of the mayors as it considered the decision by Ankara to be undemocratic. It compared the move to the September 12, 1980 coup.
“Ignoring the voters’ will, rendering local administrators ineffective, this unlawful regulation is null and void for us,” read a statement issued by the party, adding that the people will “not concede to this unlawful regulation.”
Murat Karayilan, a member of the PKK’s Executive Committee, said that the officials dismissed by Ankara were 80 percent of the elected leaders, and Kurds would not accept their removal, ANF, a media outlet close to the PKK, reported.
He added that the accusation that municipal funds were being redirected to the PKK was “a big lie.” The PKK does not need or want funds from municipalities, he said.
The US Embassy in Ankara issued a statement on Sunday expressing concern over reports of clashes in Kurdish areas after Ankara’s announcement.
Local media reported Turkish Special Forces were blocking entry into municipal buildings and draping them with Turkish flags.
The embassy’s statement urged Turkish authorities to respect the rule of law and individual rights: “We hope that any appointment of trustees will be temporary and that local citizens will soon be permitted to choose new local officials in accordance with Turkish law.”
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