DBP mayor detained after deadly PKK attack in southeast Turkey

ADIYAMAN

The mayor of a sub-district in the southeastern province of Adıyaman has been detained after four Turkish soldiers were killed amid the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks in the area.

A total of 12 suspects were detained by the police in Kömür sub-district in the past two days. Mayor Yusuf Yaka from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) was among the four people detained on Aug. 17, according to Demirören News Agency. Yaka was also suspended from his official duties.

The DBP is a political party under the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) umbrella, like the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Four Turkish soldiers were killed in Adıyaman on Aug. 16 after a local marble mine was attacked by the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU.

The governor’s office for Adıyaman said one of the soldiers died when the PKK detonated a roadside bomb as a military vehicle passed by.

Another group of soldiers arrived at the scene inside a civilian vehicle to help evacuate injured comrades. However, they were shot at by another military unit who mistook them for PKK militants, the governor’s office added.

The statement also noted an operation to nab the PKK militants was ongoing in the area.

Operations against PKK militants have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when a peace process between Ankara and the PKK broke down.