Turkey’s military says its warplanes have attacked Islamic State group targets in northern Syria, killing 20 fighters.
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Mayors from the AKP and MHP are accused of having links to Gulen movement, according to Turkish media.
The move was taken within the three-month state of emergency imposed after the coup.
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.
In a statement, the HDP said the move was reminiscent of the military takeover in 1980 and “ignored the will of the voters”.
The Kurdish YPG leadership also stressed their readiness to endure and strengthen the struggle against terrorist groups in Syria, “to help bring an end to the continued suffering of all Syrians and to protect the people of areas that have been freed and those that will be liberated”.
Four people, including a deputy mayor, were briefly detained in a minor skirmish outside city hall in the southeastern province of Hakkari.
Turkey announced Sunday that it had replaced 28 elected municipal and district mayors in several predominantly Kurdish towns in the country’s east and southeast, saying the leaders are suspected of colluding with groups the government considers terrorist organizations.
The government said in a statement that Turkey removed the mayors to stop local governments from aiding terrorism with public property and funds.
Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse Kurdish demonstrators protesting against the removal of the local mayor from office over suspected links with Kurdish militants, in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
The embassy also expressed hope that the trustees would serve only temporarily and that citizens would soon be able to elect new officials.
“Our Red Crescent is working to reach al-Rai and Jarablus as well, in co-ordination with (the Turkish disaster management agency) AFAD”, he said, referring to two Syrian border towns.
Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union have branded the PKK a “terrorist organisation”.
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The group called for a ceasefire in 2013 after clandestine talks between Ocalan and the Turkish spy agency, but the conflict has resumed since the collapse of the truce a year ago, leaving hundreds more people dead.
