The mayors of two towns in eastern Turkey were jailed for links to a banned Kurdish militant group. While Ankara says it must maintain security, President Erdogan’s critics say the firings undermined democracy,
Cevdet Konak was the mayor of the mainly Kurdish-populated provincial capital of TunceliImage: ANKA
Two Turkish opposition mayors were removed from office, Ankara said Friday, after they were convicted of “terrorism” for belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The pair are the fifth and sixth pro-Kurdish mayors to be dismissed on similar charges over the past two months, including the mayor of Istanbul’s most populous district.
What do we know about the firings?
Tunceli’s elected mayor Cevdet Konak, and Mustafa Sarigul, mayor of Ovacik in Tunceli province, in Turkey’s southeast, were found guilty of membership in the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
The PKK has waged a guerilla insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The pair were each given prison sentences of six years and three months this week, the interior ministry said, and replaced with state-appointed administrators.
Konakis is from the main pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), which is often targeted by Turkish authorities for its alleged links to the PKK.
