Police detained a pro-Kurdish party mayor in southeast Turkiye today over alleged militant links and he has been replaced by the state governor, the Ministry of the Interior said, two months after the mayor won power in local elections, Reuters reports. After previous municipal elections, Turkiye detained pro-Kurdish mayors, removing virtually all from their posts to be replaced by state officials over charges of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Mehmet Siddik Akis, mayor of Hakkari province bordering Iran and Iraq, was accused of having a high-level role in the PKK militant group, the ministry said in a statement on X. A security source said police teams carried out a search at the Hakkari municipal building and kept […]
![A Turkish soldier stands on guard duty during the operation in the city of Hakkari, Turkiye on January 15, 2023. [Utku Uçrak - Anadolu Agency]](http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AA-20230115-29997157-29997135-OPERATION_CLAWLOCK_AGAINST_TERRORISTS_IN_TURKIYES_HAKKARI.jpg)