Turkish police on Monday detained Ahmet Türk, a former deputy and also co-mayor of the Mardin Municipality, and Emin Irmak, Artuklu district mayor, as part of a terrorism probe.
The mayors were detained at home as part of an investigation overseen by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Both Türk and Irmak were recently removed from their posts by the Interior Ministry, with the government appointing trustees to replace them.
Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast while Turkish courts earlier this month arrested 10 pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputies including the party’s co-chairs.
Turkey has also arrested dozens of local Kurdish politicians on terrorism charges.
The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries.