Turkey appoints new mayor for SE province

ANKARA

A district governor in the Turkish capital was appointed Tuesday as Diyarbakir mayor after the elected mayor of the southeastern province was remanded Sunday as part of a terrorism probe.

Ankara's Etimesgut district governor Cumali Atilla was appointed as Diyarbakir metropolitan mayor, a source from the Interior Ministry said.

The court that remanded Diyarbakir mayor Gultan Kisanak, also remanded Sunday Firat Anli, city council member, in connection with the same terrorism investigation.

On Oct. 25, Kisanak, a member of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Anli and another local elected official were taken into custody by police from the Diyarbakir Security Directorate.

The Chief Prosecutor's Office in Diyarbakir said in a statement that the mayor was arrested for being a member of an armed terrorist group.

"It has been understood that Gultan Kisanak called for autonomy and made remarks that are pro-terrorist organization during Nevruz activities that were organized as directed by the PKK terrorist group," the statement said.

It also said Anli assigned municipality vehicles to help build a so-called cemetery for terrorist PKK members in 2014, after an attack martyred a Turkish soldier.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year. Since then, PKK terrorist attacks have martyred more than 700 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while more than 8,000 PKK terrorists were killed in military operations.

In September, Turkey appointed 28 trustees to oversee local administrations following the suspension of mayors accused of links to terrorism.

The mayors were suspended from duty over alleged ties to the PKK or the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) linked to the July 15 coup attempt. Four of the removed mayors are accused of ties to FETO with 24 said to support the PKK.

*Reporting Ilkay Guder; Writing by Handan Kazanci