28 mayors replaced with trustees by Turkish government

Turkey's Interior Ministry appointed trustees to 28 local municipalities across the country on Sept. 11 on the grounds that they allegedly provided support to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which was accused of staging the failed coup attempt of July 15, sparking angry reaction from the opposition.

A total of 28 mayors, 24 of whom were allegedly linked to the PKK while the other four were allegedly linked to FETÖ, were suspended from their duties as part of a recent decree law under the state of emergency, the ministry said in a statement issued on its website.

The new mayors began their duties as of 9 a.m., it said. 

Among the suspended were 24 district mayors, the mayors of the eastern province of Hakkari, the southeastern province of Batman and two town mayors. Twelve were already under arrest, according to the ministry. 

The recent appointments were predominantly in eastern and southeastern provinces from municipalities run by the Democratic Unity Party (DBP), the sister party of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including the Silvan and Sur municipalities of Diyarbakır, four municipalities in Mardin, Van and Batman, and two municipalities in Şırnak. The mayors were either replaced by deputy governors or district governors.

The other four mayors, three from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and one from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), were suspended over their alleged links to FETÖ in the districts of Adana, Erzurum, Giresun and Konya to be replaced by municipal councils in the districts.

Commenting on the assignments, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said the move was "to protect the democratic constitutional state,"...