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Turkey: More than 250 Detained over Alleged Terror Links

Turkish policemen in Istanbul. Reuters file photo
Turkish policemen in Istanbul. Reuters file photo
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Turkey: More than 250 Detained over Alleged Terror Links

Turkish policemen in Istanbul. Reuters file photo
Turkish policemen in Istanbul. Reuters file photo

Turkish authorities have detained 267 suspects, 161 of them foreign nationals, for their alleged links to terrorist organizations, state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.

Police believe the suspected extremists had been plotting attacks for New Year's Eve, the report said without elaborating.

The suspects were detained during raids in 33 cities and provinces between December 20 and 31, Anadolu said, citing a statement from the Interior Ministry.

The nationalities of the foreign detainees have not been made public.

Separately, Turkey's immigration authority was holding 69 foreign nationals over their "links to conflict zones," the report added, according to the German Press Agency.

Police are said to have seized pistols, explosive materials and digital documents linked to terrorist groups in raids against those 69 people.

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Türkiye Replaces Pro-Kurdish Mayors with State Officials in 2 Cities

Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
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Türkiye Replaces Pro-Kurdish Mayors with State Officials in 2 Cities

Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)

Türkiye stripped two elected pro-Kurdish mayors of their posts in eastern cities on Friday, for convictions on terrorism-related offences, the interior ministry said, temporarily appointing state officials in their places instead.

The local governor replaced mayor Cevdet Konak in Tunceli, while a local administrator was appointed in the place of Ovacik mayor Mustafa Sarigul, the ministry said in a statement, adding these were "temporary measures".
Konak is a member of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has 57 seats in the national parliament, and Sarigul is a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Dozens of pro-Kurdish mayors from its predecessor parties have been removed from their posts on similar charges in the past, Reuters reported.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said authorities had deemed that Sarigul's attendance at a funeral was a crime and called the move to appoint a trustee "a theft of the national will", adding his party would stand against the "injustice".
"Removing a mayor who has been elected by the votes of the people for two terms over a funeral he attended 12 years ago has no more jurisdiction than the last struggles of a government on its way out," Ozel said on X.
Earlier this month, Türkiye replaced three pro-Kurdish mayors in southeastern cities over similar terrorism-related reasons, drawing backlash from the DEM Party and others.
Last month, a mayor from the CHP was arrested after prosecutors accused him of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), banned as a terrorist group in Türkiye and deemed a terrorist group by the European Union and United States.
The appointment of government trustees followed a surprise proposal by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main ally last month to end the state's 40-year conflict with the PKK.