The co-mayors of Şırnak’s Uludere district, Zeynep Üren and Yunus Ürek from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), were dismissed from their posts on Friday after a brief detention yesterday.
The DBP co-mayors were targeted in a recent investigation that links the politicians with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s Ministry of Interior Affairs appointed a trustee to the Doğubayazıt Municipality of eastern Ağrı province on Tuesday, following the detention of Mayor Rohat Özbay of the DBP.
On Wednesday, four Kurdish deputies from the HDP were detained and released in another terror investigation.
On Sunday, the government appointed district governor Abdulselam Öztürk as trustee to the Başkale Municipality of eastern Van province following the dismissal of Mayor İhsan Güler of the DBP.
Mehmet Ali Tunç, mayor of the Muradiye district in Van from the DBP, was also detained on Monday as part of a terrorism investigation.
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, and dozens of Kurdish co-mayors and party members have been detained and arrested, including 11 pro-Kurdish HDP deputies and the party’s co-chairs.