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KurdistanObserver.com
Kurdish Rebels Confirm Turkish Mayor Kidnapped
ISTANBUL, July 31 (AFP) Rebels from the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Sunday claimed responsibility for kidnapping
the mayor of a town in southeastern Turkey, rejecting earlier reports he had
been freed.
"The mayor ... of Yedisu, Hasim Akyurek, was arrested by one of our guerilla
teams on July 27. ... This action has been carried out because of the many
complaints and requests by the people regarding this person," the PKK announced
in a statement quoted by the pro-Kurd MHA news agency in Germany.
Locals had complained about the activities of the mayor of Yayladere
district, which includes Yedisu, for "working in cooperation with the Turkish
security forces, exercising threats and pressure harmful to the people", the PKK
document said.
Akyurek, a Kurd and member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP),
was abducted on Wednesday during a visit to a mountainous part of his
constituency. |
