The co-mayors of Batman’s Gercüş district, Zeynep Oduncu and Abdülkerim Kaya from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), who had been replaced by trustees in September, were detained by police on Wednesday.
Oduncu and Kaya were detained along with 14 others as part of an investigation conducted by the Batman Public Prosecutor’s Office.
After Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated in Ankara on Sept. 10 that municipalities in the country’s eastern provinces which have links to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) would be terrorist-free municipalities, tens of mayors and co-mayors from the pro-Kurdish DBP and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were replaced by trustees following the detention of hundreds of local pro-Kurdish politicians.