He delivered the message through a video message to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
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The 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 government-installed officials and were dispersed with tear gas and water cannons. The president has also pledged to crush militants involved in the alleged Kurdistan Workers Party insurgency – to carve out an autonomous Kurdish state.
“We reiterate that the regulation enabling assignments of trustees over municipalities, brought through a Decree with the Power of Law by the AKP administration and Erdogan, violates multiple Constitutional clauses, democratic global agreements signed by Turkey, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Charter of Local Self Government, the universal law and fundamental human rights”, the pro-Kurdish party said in a statement on Sunday.
“We hope that any appointment of trustees will be temporary and that local citizens will soon be permitted to choose new local officials in accordance with Turkish law”, it said.
“No democratic state can or will allow mayors and MPs to use municipality resources to finance terrorist organizations”, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter.
The HDP called on the Turkish government to “stop trying to take advantage of the recent coup attempt” on July 15th. Gulen denies any involvement.
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”.
Turkish officials say the moves are justified by the extent of the threat to the state.
Meanwhile, the interior ministry said in a statement that the 28 sacked mayors – 12 of whom have been arrested – were facing a probe over suspected “assistance and support” to the Kurdish militants and to Gulen’s organisation.
“This unlawful and arbitrary action will only deepen existing problems in Kurdish towns and cause the Kurdish issue to be even more unsolvable”, the party said in a statement.
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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”.
