Turkey dismisses mayors, detains then releases pro-Kurdish lawmaker

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - The Interior Ministry of Turkey dismissed the elected co-mayors of three Kurdish districts in Diyarbakir and Hakkari provinces on Thursday, raising the number of municipalities run by government trustees to 40.

A statement on the ministry's website accused the mayors of "membership in the terror organization" Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

It also announced the appointment of subgovernors to the mayors' offices to run municipal affairs of the towns, all administered by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP).

Turkish police arrested co-mayors Mehmet Selim Kurbanoglu of Yenisehir on Tuesday alongside Mehmet Ali Aydin of Kayapinar (Payas), both central districts in Diyarbakir, said Kurdistan24 bureau there.

The third mayor dismissed from his post was Servet Tunc of Cukurca (Çelê) district in Hakkari province on the border with the Kurdistan Region.

Tunc was arrested along two other mayors from Hakkari last week, leaving the province with no representatives at both local and parliamentary level.

In Istanbul, the police detained lawmaker Huda Kaya of the second largest opposition block pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who participated an anti-government protest.

Kaya was taken to Public Prosecutur's Office which accused her of "disseminating propaganda on behalf of a terror group" for her previous speeches.

The authorities released Kaya, an ethnic Turk, after she answered a prosecutor's questions, said Kurdistan24 Istanbul bureau.

Kaya's arrest and release follow her party's leaders' imprisonment last month.

HDP Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas, Figen Yuksekdag, and eight other lawmakers detained on November 6 remained in prison.

Kaya's son who, a day after, was protesting the crackdown along with his mother in Diyarbakir was arrested by police who broke his ribs in detention and later handcuffed him to bed at a local hospital.

Editing by Ava Homa