Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 people following the failed July 15 coup, in which rogue soldiers commandeered fighters jets and tanks in a bid to seize power.
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Of those replaced, 24 are suspected of ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK, and four are thought to be linked to the Gulen movement allegedly responsible for the abortive coup which killed over 270 people.
The United States embassy in Ankara expressed concern over the government’s actions, saying in a statement that it hoped the substitute office-holders who took up their new posts Sunday would be temporary and that “local citizens will soon be permitted to choose new local officials in accordance with Turkish law”.
“Being elected does not grant a right to commit a crime”, he wrote on Twitter.
A hearse as well as several municipal vehicles that were heading towards the scene were also attacked by PKK terrorists.
Ocalan had until then met regularly with a delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The HDP condemned the appointments as a “coup by trustees” in a press statement released Sunday. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed.
“This illegal and arbitrary stance will result in the deepening of current problems in Kurdish cities, and the Kurdish issue becoming unresolvable”.
“Like the Gulen movement, the PKK can not possibly withstand the power of the people and the strength of the state”, he said in a video statement.
The municipalities affected – mainly in the Kurdish-dominated southeast – include hugely important urban areas known as centres of PKK activity such as Sur and Silvan in the Diyarbakir region and Nusaybin in the Mardin region.
On Friday, Turkey’s interior ministry announced the government would take over the running of 28 municipalities, ousting elected mayors and other administrators accused of links to the Kurdish rebels.
The mayors of the cities of Batman and Hakkari in the southeast have also been replaced.
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Turkish media reports said this will be the first family visit Ocalan has been allowed since October 6, 2014.
