Erdogan said the PKK, considered by Turkey as a terrorist group, had been trying to step up their attacks since a failed coup attempt in July with a clear aim of disrupting Turkey’s military operations in Syria.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. The interior ministry said 12 of the mayors suspended were already under arrest.
“It doesn’t undoubtedly comply with the law for those elected by the public vote to abuse the will of nation to commit crimes against the public”, the statement said.
Anadolu said Abdullah Ocalan’s message was relayed Monday by his brother Mehmet Ocalan, who was allowed to visit the PKK leader at his island prison south of Istanbul the day before the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha.
Also Sunday, the Interior Ministry removed 28 mayors from office on charges of supporting terrorism and appointed local trustees to replace them.
The decree was issued under the three-month state of emergency imposed after the coup.
In the latest violence, suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants set off a vehicle bomb on Monday near government offices in the city of Van, wounding scores of people.
Since the two-year peace process broke down, the Turkish government has taken a hard-line stance to the Kurdish problem, destroying several towns seized by militants and clamping down on the legal pro-Kurdish political movement in the country.
“Just like Feto, the PKK stands no chance against our sagacious people and the power of our state”.
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.
Four people, including a deputy mayor, were detained after a skirmish in Hakkari province, Dogan said.
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”.
More than 81,000 people working for Turkey’s institutions and security forces, including judges, teachers, police and journalists, were fired just after the failed coup.
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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”.
