Authorities dismiss mayors of 3 souteastern districts

Three mayors of district municipalities have been dismissed because of links to "terrorist organizations" the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

The mayors of southeastern Diyarbakır province's Kayapınar and Yenişehir districts, Mehmet Ali Aydın and Selim Kurbanoğlu - as well as Hakkari province's Çukurca district Mayor Servet Tunç - all from the pro-PKK Democratic Regions' Party (DBP), were dismissed from duty.

They are accused of being members of a terrorist organization and were previously detained by police as part of a terror investigation.

In September, an official report by the Justice Ministry revealed at full length the involvement of DBP municipalities in various crimes. Several district municipalities were found guilty of constitutional crimes in 2015 - specifically in the districts of Sur, Silvan and Lice - for denying state authority and declaring self-governance. Municipal workers in the province had also attended demonstrations in support of self-governance.

Vehicles belonging to many DBP municipalities, including those in Diyarbakır, were used to transport and bury the deceased terrorist members of the PKK as well as the terrorist members of its Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG).