Turkey appoints acting district mayor amid terror case

By Necmettin Karaca

VAN, Turkey (AA) – Turkey appointed an acting district mayor in the eastern Van province after the mayor was suspended over suspected links to terrorism, local governorate said on Tuesday.

District Governor Nuri Mehmetbeyoglu was appointed as the acting mayor of Ercis district after Yildiz Cetin of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) was arrested as part of an ongoing terrorism investigation.

Yildiz is standing trial over the charges of terror group membership and spreading terror propaganda.

In mid-August, mayors in Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Van provinces were suspended over alleged terror links; they were all from the HDP, which Turkey's government accuses of having links to the PKK terror group.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union -- has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur