US meets with far-left terror group in Syria: Interior minister

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Turkey's interior minister said on Aug. 20 that the U.S. met with the outlawed terrorist Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) organization in Syria two weeks ago.     

In an interview to Turkish broadcaster Habertürk, Süleyman Soylu  said: "14 days ago in Syria, Americans met with MLKP [which Turkey already eliminated in the rural areas] and we know what was discussed then."     

The MLKP was founded in 1994 and in 2007 was added to a list of active terror organizations in Turkey.     

Soylu also mentioned that they seized a sizeable bomb which was on its way to an important center in Turkey from the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa on Aug. 20 night.     

For the appointment of city mayors to three provinces, he said it was a legal decision:     

"Appointment of the city mayors to Van, Diyarbakir and Mardin provinces is a legal decision, not a political one."     

On Aug. 19, the Interior Ministry suspended the mayors of the Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van – Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı, Ahmet Türk and Bedia Özgökçe Ertan, respectively – with state-appointed provincial governors of the provinces temporarily replacing them.

The ministry said the mayors already face cases in which they stand accused of crimes such as establishing or spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization or terror group membership.