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Turkish authorities arrest local mayor over alleged terror links

By Sommer Brokaw
The mayor of the Sur district in the city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, which has its old city walls shown here, was arrested Monday over alleged links to a terror group. File Photo by Brian Dell/Wikimedia Commons
The mayor of the Sur district in the city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, which has its old city walls shown here, was arrested Monday over alleged links to a terror group. File Photo by Brian Dell/Wikimedia Commons

Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Authorities arrested a Turkish mayor Monday over alleged ties to a terror group, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Mayor Feyme Filiz Buluttekin of Diyarbakir's Sur district was arrested Monday after being temporarily suspended from her post and detained as part of an anti-terror probe Friday, the Anadolu Agency reported.

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District Governor Abdullah Ciftci assumed her post, the government announced in a press release Saturday.

Buluttekin from the Peoples' Democratic Party, known as HDP, has been accused of being a member of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, and the People's Protection Units, YPG, which is made up of mostly ethnic Kurds who have fought ISIS, but whom Turkish leaders believe is tied to the PKK.

She is also accused of spreading terrorist propaganda and insulting the Turkish state and nation.

In particular, Buluttekin is accused of attending the funeral of senior PKK member Mehmet Yakisir, known to have killed 15-year-old Eren Bulbul in 2017, and funerals of other terrorists, along with supporting their families and receiving PKK ringleaders' instructions.

Mayors in southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van, were also suspended over alleged terror links in the summer. They were also from the HDP, which Turkey's government accuses of ties to the terrorist group.

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