Mayor arrested for alleged terror links

DİYARBAKIR

A district mayor in southeastern Diyarbakır has been arrested over alleged links to terrorist organizations, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Dec. 23.

A local mayor in southeastern Turkey from an opposition party accused of terrorist ties was arrested over alleged links to an armed terror group, security sources said on Dec. 23.

Feyme Filiz Buluttekin, the mayor of Sur district from Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), was temporarily suspended on Dec. 21 as part of an anti-terror investigation, and the district governor Abdullah Çiftçi assumeD her post.

It added that Buluttekin’s suspension was based on Article 127 of the constitution regarding the local administration’s role and authority.

Buluttekin was detained on Dec. 20 along with two members of the district assembly. She stands accused of being a member of the PKK/YPG terrorist organization, making terrorist propaganda and insulting the Turkish state and nation.

Buluttekin attended the funeral of senior PKK member Mehmet Yakışır, known to have killed 15-year-old boy Eren Bülbül in 2017.

She is also accused of attending the funerals of other terrorists as well as supporting their families and receiving instructions from PKK ringleaders.

Prior to the investigation, Buluttekin was sentenced to 10 months in prison for PKK propaganda.

Ankara has appointed acting mayors to 31 HDP municipalities in southeastern cities and districts since the March elections, according to the HDP, and 23 of the HDP’s co-mayors are currently jailed pending trial.

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 that 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.