Turkey removes 3 pro-Kurdish mayors from office

Turkey’s government says it has removed from office the elected mayors of three provinces in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish-populated southeast region, replacing them with government appointees.

An Interior Ministry statement on Monday accused the mayors of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party of aiding the outlawed Kurdish rebel group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Police on Monday also detained 418 people suspected of links to the PKK in separate operations in 29 provinces, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The three municipality buildings were being searched.

The three mayors were elected to office in the cities of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van in local elections in March.

The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its Western allies.