Alwaght- Ankara has arrested two other Kurd mayors amid ongoing protests against the recent wave of crackdown on oppositions.
Turkish security sources say two suspended mayors in the country’s southeast were detained on Monday as part of what Ankara calls an anti-terror investigation.
Ahmet Turk, mayor of Mardin city, and Emin Irmak, mayor of the province’s Artuklu district, had been suspended from duty last week and replaced by Interior Ministry officials.
The two suspects were arrested at their homes, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.
Monday’s detentions are the latest in a series of arrest of elected officials in Turkish municipalities that has sparked a wave of protests across the country including Istanbul that witnessed a protesting rally on Sunday.
On 17 November, the mayor of Tunceli province Mehmet Ali Bul, the mayor of Van province Bekir Kaya from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), and four other municipal officials were arrested.
Earlier this month, 13 lawmakers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were arrested. Ten, including co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, remain in custody awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.
In October, the DBP co-mayors of Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast, were arrested and jailed pending trial on terrorism charges.
Turkish government accuses these elected officials of supporting the Kurdish PKK organization that Ankara regards a terrorist organization.
