Ankara Removes pro-Kurdish Mayors in Four Turkish Towns

Authorities in Turkey said on Tuesday that they had removed the mayors of Kayapinar, Bismil and Kocakoy, towns located in Diyarbakir Province in the Southeast, and the mayor of Ercis, a town in the eastern province of Van. All four belong to the pro-Kurd Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is accused of maintaining ties to Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Ankara has labeled PKK a terrorist organization. Turkey recently launched an incursion into northeastern Syria to drive out the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia from along the border, saying that it, too, provides aid to PKK. This brings to 12 the number of HDP mayors ousted since a crackdown began in March. According to the offices of the provincial governors, the four mayors most recently removed are under arrest on charges related to terrorism.