Meanwhile, security forces used water cannon to disperse a protest in Diyarbakir, an AFP correspondent said.
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Turkey declared a state of emergency after the July 15 coup attempt, allowing the government to rule by decree.
The crackdown comes as Ankara also pushes ahead with a purge of tens of thousands of supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of orchestrating the attempted coup in July.
Of the 28 mayors who were replaced, 24 are suspected of ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and four are thought to be linked to the movement led by USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government says is responsible for the abortive coup that left more than 270 people dead.
“Being elected does not grant a right to commit a crime”, he wrote on Twitter. The government said in a statement that Turkey removed the mayors to stop local governments from aiding terrorism with public property and funds. “Our government took this decision based on all of this evidence”. The removal of the 28 officials was followed by clashes in the region.
The pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party, or HDP, condemned the appointments as a “coup by trustees” that violates the Turkish constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights.
“This unlawful and arbitrary attitude will do nothing but intensify existing issues, causing the Kurdish issue to become unresolvable to further degrees”, it stressed.
In a televised message for Eid al-Adha, the Turkish President said the Euphrates Shield operation is the first step towards this goal. “Just like Feto, the PKK stands no chance against our sagacious people and the power of our state”. The group said at the news conference they would abandon their eight-day action after the visit took place.
There were scuffles between protesters and police outside the town hall in Hakkari and also in Suruc in the Sanliurfa region where dozens were killed past year in an IS suicide bombing, Dogan said.
The mayors of the cities of Batman and Hakkari in the south-east have also been replaced. Twelve of the mayors have been arrested, its statement said.
Ahmad Primo, an opposition media activist in the contested city of Aleppo, says airstrikes on the city’s rebel-held eastern district “have not let up” since the morning.
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“These attacks, which have the clear objective of disrupting Turkey’s Syria operation, are still ongoing”, Erdogan said.
