Turkey: HDP mayor remanded facing terrorism charges

IGDIR, Turkey

A mayor in eastern Turkey was remanded into custody on Monday over terrorism charges, according to judicial sources.

Yasar Akkus, the mayor of Igdir from the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was arrested on Friday as part of a terror probe and he was suspended from his position.

A local court remanded Akkus over the charges of the PKK terror group membership, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

On Friday, several local officials from the HDP, a political party accused by the government of links to the PKK, were detained as part of a terror probe in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

A large number of local HDP mayors have been suspended from office, facing terrorism charges.

Almost one-year, dozens of families have been staging a sit-in protest outside the HDP office in the southeastern Diyarbakir province, accusing party officials of helping the PKK terror group forcibly recruit their children.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut