By Aziz Aslan
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) – A local Turkish court Sunday remanded Firat Anli, the co-mayor of the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, as part of an investigation into terrorism, said judicial sources.
Diyarbakir’s Co-Mayor Gultan Kisanak’s questioning is underway, said the sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
On Oct. 25, Kisanak, a member of the pro-PKK Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), and Firat Anli, her co-mayor and a city council member, were taken into custody by police from the Diyarbakir Security Directorate.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Diyarbakir said in a statement that the mayor was arrested for being a member of an armed terrorist group.
“It has been understood that Gultan Kisanak called for autonomy and made remarks that are pro-terrorist organization during Nevruz activities that were organized as directed by the PKK terrorist group,” the statement said.
The statement also said Anli assigned municipality vehicles to help build a so-called cemetery for terrorist PKK members in 2014, after an attack martyred a Turkish soldier.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year. Since then, PKK terrorist attacks have martyred more than 700 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while more than 8,000 PKK terrorists were killed in military operations.
