Turkey has removed three elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office over terrorism-related charges and replaced them with state-appointed officials

Local governors replaced the mayors in the provincial centres of Mardin and Batman, while the mayor of Halfeti in Sanliurfa province was also unseated, it added. All belonged to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party,

Turkey on Monday sacked three mayors facing terrorism charges in the Kurdish-majority southeast and replaced them with trustees, the interior ministry said.

On Monday, Turkey dismissed pro-Kurdish mayors from three southeastern cities, alleging connections to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), just weeks after a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a plan to end the group’s four-decade conflict.