Turkish court remands in custody 2 mayors

By Aziz Aslan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) – A Turkish court Wednesday remanded in custody two mayors in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir detained on terrorism charges, said a security source.

The mayor of Diyarbakir’s Kayapinar district, Mehmet Ali Aydin, and Yenisehir Mayor Selim Kurbanoglu are accused of being members of terrorist organization.

Aydin and Kurbanoglu were detained as part of a terrorism-linked probe early Tuesday, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Diyarbakir’s public prosecutor gave orders for the arrest of the two mayors, who are also members of Turkey's Democratic Regions Party (DBP).

Anti-terror police arrested the mayors at their homes on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and spreading terror propaganda, said the source.

In October, the DBP co-mayors of Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s southeast, were arrested and jailed pending trial on terrorism charges.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Since then, more than 300 civilians and nearly 800 security personnel have been martyred. Around 8,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended.