Turkish party leader urges action against fired mayors

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish party leader on Wednesday urged legal action against three city mayors who were dismissed for using funds from their municipality for terrorism.

"Those who share state resources with terrorists should be taken to task," Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said in a statement.

Bahceli's remarks came after mayors of three cities in eastern and southeastern Turkey -- Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van -- were suspended on Monday for allegedly supporting terrorism.

All mayors are from the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party Turkey's government has accused 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 EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Bahceli said the dismissed mayors "are terror supporters, terrorist sympathizers who work on behalf of the PKK and have many investigations and prosecutions filed against them."

"The moral and the legal implications are the same for all those providing municipal funds to the killers of Mehmetcik [Turkish soldiers], ignoring the Constitution and laws, and misinterpreting the vote and support from the ballot boxes," said the MHP leader.

Bahceli said that ballot boxes, elections and democracy should not be used as a cover for crimes and criminals.