Turkish authorities dismiss 3 local mayors

By Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA

Three Turkish mayors have been dismissed because of links to “terrorist organizations” the country’s interior ministry said on Thursday.

The mayors of southeastern Diyarbakir province’s Kayapinar and Yenisehir districts -- Mehmet Ali Aydin and Selim Kurbanoglu -- plus Hakkari province’s Cukurca district mayor Servet Tunc were axed.

They are accused of being members of a terrorist organization and were previously detained by police as part of a terror probe.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Since then, more than 300 civilians and nearly 800 security personnel have been martyred. Around 8,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended.