Trustee appointed to another municipality in Turkey’s southeast

HAKKARİ

A trustee was appointed to the Yüksekova Municipality in the southeastern Hakkari province on Dec. 19, after the elected Deputy Mayor Adile Kozay was arrested on Dec. 8 on charges of being a “member of a terrorist organization.” 

Mahmut Kaşıkçı, who previously served as the Yüksekova district governor, has now been appointed as mayor by the central government, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

“We will administer the municipality by focusing on serving citizens. We will administer the municipality together with the citizens,” Kaşıkçı said, adding that “they are there for service and will try to bring service to everyone.”

“We are telling the people that we are here for service. Our brothers and sisters in Yüksekova should support us. With the orders from our President [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan], Yüksekova will be reconstructed. Yüksekova doesn’t even have sewage at present. So we are here to carry out infrastructure development of the district,” he also said. 

Also in Yüksekova, one person was detained for making terrorist propaganda on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The unidentified man was detained when he shouted pro-PKK slogans, the Hakkari Governor’s Office has announced. 
An investigation into the case is ongoing.

25 PKK militants caught in Turkey’s southeast   

Meanwhile, a total of 25 PKK militants were also caught in operations in the southeastern province of Şırnak, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Dec. 19.

The Turkish military announced that a number of weapons were seized, including 25 Kalashnikov rifles and scores of ammunition. 

“A total of 25 Kalashnikov rifles, 1,740 Kalashnikov cartridges and a pump rifle were seized in operations that were carried out from Dec. 17 to 18 against the separatist organization. The operations are ongoing with determination,” said a statement released from the Şırnak Governor’s Office.

Meanwhile, two PKK militants were killed in clashes that erupted in the Hani district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. 

Security forces and PKK militants exchanged fire in a security operation in the Kırım village of Hani at around noon on Dec. 19 after the militants refused to surrender to the security forces. 

Soldiers and police officers backed by aerial support are taking part in the operation.