“It should have been taken sooner, and it was my advice to do so earlier”, Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul after attending prayers to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
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Trustees were appointed to oversee 28 local administrations Sunday following the suspension of mayors accused of links to the PKK or the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
The governor’s office said security forces are working to apprehend the perpetrators of the car-bombing.
Parliament member Sebahat Tuncel, a Kurd, said Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party had started “a war against Kurds”, and said the government has no evidence the mayors, some of whom were elected by overwhelming majorities, had any ties to terrorism.
The HDP called on the Turkish government to “stop trying to take advantage of the recent coup attempt” on July 15th.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), whose regional politicians were among the chief targets of the move, denounced the removal of the mayors as a “coup”.
Several ambulances rushed to the scene and television images showed water cannon being used to put out a fire caused by the explosion.
The Interior Ministry said in its statement that when local governments “come under the influence of terrorist organizations, it is the state’s primary duty to take precautions against those who have usurped the people’s will”.
Van is a city about 100 km east of the border with Iran and has a mixed Kurdish and Turkish population on the shores of the lake of the same name.
Mr Erdogan also promised no let-up for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the “Fethullah Terrorist Organisation (Feto)”, as Turkey dubs Mr Gulen’s movement, which it accuses of plotting July’s failed military coup. “Just like Feto, the PKK stands no chance against our sagacious people and the power of our state”.
An explosion hit the Beşyol region of the Turkish eastern province of Van on the morning of September 12, Doğan News Agency has reported. Co-Mayor Fatma Yildiz, who was replaced Sunday morning, said the decision was “a blow against the will of the people”, Dogan reported.
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Some material for this report from the Associated Press.
