Two opposition mayors in eastern Turkey have been removed from office after being convicted of “terrorism” for belonging to a banned Kurdish militant group, the interior minister said on Friday.
The mayors of Tunceli and Ovacik were each sentenced to six years and three months in prison this week for membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a guerilla insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
Both were replaced by state-appointed administrators, the interior ministry said in a statement, in the latest ousting of politicians associated with Turkey’s Kurdish minority.
Tunceli’s deposed mayor Cevdet Konak, is a member of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party.
Meanwhile Ovacik’s deposed mayor Mustafa Sarigul is affiliated with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Since 31 March local elections, Erdogan regime sacked six mayors, with four belonging to DEM and two to CHP. According to the Ministry of Interior, over the last 5 years, 3,345 mayors have been investigated, with 49 removed from their posts. The Ministry refused to provide a break-down of probes by party.
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According to Turkish press sources, Erdogan has drafted a list of 37 mayors to be ousted. CHP sources fear that Ankara and Istanbul mayors Messrs. Mansur Yavas and Ekrem Imamoglu, too be will be removed. Yavas is under investigation for overpaying public concerts, while Imamoglu is on trial for tender fixing and insulting election officials.
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