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SYRIA-CONFLICT-TURKEY-KURDS-ARREST
Turkey detains four mayors in Kurdish areas
ISTANBUL, Oct 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Four mayors from Turkey’s main pro-
Kurdish opposition party were detained on Tuesday as part of a “counter-
terrorism” operation, the party said.
The mayors are from four towns in Turkey’s majority-Kurdish southeast —
Hakkari, Yuksekova, Ercis and Nusaybin — and all members of the Peoples’
Democratic Party (HDP).
State news agency Anadolu said they were taken as part of “counter-
terrorism” investigations for alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK), which has fought a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state
since 1984.
Six other municipal officials were also arrested, Anadolu said.
Dozens of criminal cases have been opened against people around the
country for criticising Turkey’s military operation against Kurdish militants
in Syria since it was launched a week ago.
Among them were the co-presidents of the HDP, Sezai Temelli et Pervin
Buldan, accused of “terrorist propaganda” for statements against the
offensive.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently accused
the HDP of being a political front for the PKK, and has periodically cracked
down on the party.
Its co-founder Selahattin Demirtas has been in jail since November 2016,
and several of its mayors have been removed from their posts over alleged PKK
ties.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1450HRS