Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday reiterated his government’s commitment to eliminating IS in Syria and the threat the group poses to Turkey. It said it did not recognize the legitimacy of the mayors’ removal.
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Turkey’s military said Sunday that its warplanes killed 20 Islamic State group fighters in an attack on targets in northern Syria, while Turkey’s president renewed a pledge to destroy the group.
Turkey was stronger, more resolute and more dynamic than before coup attempt, Erdogan said.
The move is the most important step by new interior minister Suleyman Soylu since he was appointed in a surprise cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.
Twenty four of those removed are suspected of ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the other four of links to the Gulen movement allegedly responsible for the attempted coup in July which killed over 270 people.
The interior ministry said the 28 mayors, 12 of whom are formally under arrest, were under investigation for providing “assistance and support” to the PKK and to Gulen’s organisation.
“The Kurdish problem will become even harder to solve. the people will not yield to this mentality”, it said, calling on the government to stop “taking advantage” of the failed coup.
“Just like Feto, the PKK stands no chance against our sagacious people and the power of our state”.
The April 2015 visit was with parliamentarians from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who were acting as mediators between Ocalan and PKK commanders based in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq.
“This unlawful and arbitrary attitude will do nothing but intensify existing issues, causing the Kurdish issue to become unresolvable to further degrees”, it stressed.
The municipalities affected by the decision are mainly in the Kurdish-dominated southeast including Sur in the Diyarbakir region which has been ravaged by violence between the PKK and security forces.
Private Dogan news agency reported that a group of about 200 people gathered in front of city hall in the southeastern town of Suruc to protest the appointments and were dispersed with tear gas and water cannons.
Tensions in the southeast had already been heightened since Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria two and half weeks ago dubbed “Operation Euphrates Shield”.
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The embassy also expressed hope that the trustees would serve only temporarily and that citizens would soon be able to elect new officials.
