Mayors remanded over alleged terror links

MARDIN-Anadolu Agency

Three southeastern Turkish mayors were remanded in custody due to their suspected links to a terror group, judicial sources said on Nov. 26.

Gülistan Öncu, Mülkiye Esmez, and Nalan Özaydın, all three Mardin province mayors from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), were remanded in custody as part of ongoing terrorism investigations, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The mayors were arrested on Nov. 15 and suspended from duty the next day.

Three local officials were appointed as acting mayors in their stead.

In mid-August, mayors in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır, Mardin, and Van were suspended over alleged terror links. They all were from the HDP, a party which Turkey's government accuses of having links to the terrorist group YPG/PKK.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.