The co-mayors of the İdil district of Turkey's southeastern Şırnak province was replaced yesterday with an appointed administration after an investigation was launched by the Interior Ministry due to alleged links to the PKK terror organization.
On Tuesday, the co-mayors Muhdi Aslan and Nevin Giresun were removed from duty due to alleged calls for an armed uprising against the Turkish state, for spreading terror propaganda, provoking people into hate and enmity. The co-mayors are also accused of allowing the use of municipal vehicles in PKK terror activities.
The İdil Public Prosecutor's Office appointed District Governor Ersin Tepeli as the new administrator yesterday.
The number of municipalities with the appointed administrators has increased to 29 with the replacement of the mayors in İdil district.
Twenty-eight mayors were replaced on Sept. 11, 24 of whom are accused of having links to the PKK, while the remaining four stand accused of links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).Of these, two are provincial mayors ofBatman and Hakkari provinces while 24 are mayors of district municipalities and two are mayors of smaller boroughs. Twelve of the 28 mayors are currently in jail pending trial on charges of terrorism.
All of those dismissed are from the pro-PKK Democratic Regions' Party (DBP), the local wing of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
Since PKK attacks began to escalate in the middle of last year, DBP municipalities have begun to back the PKK's strategy to create chaos in urban centers across the country's east and southeast.Municipal vehicles were seen digging ditches to prevent security forces from accessing urban areas under PKK occupation.Such incidents, which occurred in the province of Van as well as the Cizre municipality in Şırnak province, the Derik and Dargeçit municipalities in Mardin, Diyarbakır's Sur municipality and many others, forced thousands of locals to flee their homes, being pushed out by the PKK's urban militants.