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 centers of Mardin and Batman, while the mayor of Halfeti in Sanliurfa province was also unseated

Turkey dismissed the pro-Kurdish mayors of three southeastern cities on Monday for alleged ties to Kurdish militants, just two weeks after President Tayyip Erdogan's main ally made a proposal for ending the militants' 40-year insurgency in the southeast.

Turkey responded with air strikes against the group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The PKK later claimed the attack was not related to Mr Bahceli’s overtures. The violence could have derailed any peace process before it began—but it did not.