ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Turkey’s interior ministry announced on Monday the removal of Mehmet Alkan, mayor of the Kagizman district in the province of Kars, eastern Turkey for alleged ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
"Mehmet Alkan, mayor of the Kagizman district in the province of Kars, has been temporarily suspended from his duties by the interior ministry because he was sentenced to six years and three months in jail on charges of membership of an armed terror group," the interior ministry said in a statement, referring to the PKK.
Alkan’s sacking comes as the DEM Party is currently leading negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the PKK to restore the peace process and end the four-decade-long conflict.
The DEM Party strongly condemned Alkan’s sacking, saying the action was part of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) Party's "war against the people's right to vote and to be elected.”
Turkey has removed ten pro-Kurdish DEM Party mayors in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast region in less than a year including Ahmet Turk of Mardin, replacing them with state trustees.
Since the failed coup of July 2016, the Turkish government has removed plenty of Kurdish mayors on terror-related charges.
Thousands of Kurdish politicians and supporters of the DEM party are currently serving time behind bars across Turkey on charges of links to the PKK.
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