A Turkish court on Thursday ruled to arrest Ahmet Türk, a former deputy and also co-mayor of the Mardin Municipality, who was detained on Nov. 1 on charges of membership in a terror organization.
Türk, who was recently removed from his post by the Interior Ministry, with the government appointing a trustee to replace him, has played an active role in efforts seeking to find a solution to Turkey’s longstanding Kurdish problem.
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.