Diyarbakir,ŞIirnak mayors being investigated

Diyarbakır, Şırnak mayors being investigated for conducting Kurdish propaganda

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

An investigation has been launched against the mayors of Diyarbakır and Şırnak, Osman Baydemir and Ahmet Ertak, for Kurdish propaganda in interviews given on television.

Baydemir is accused of making statements in support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an interview he gave to Denmark-based Roj TV. He is claimed to have described the PKK as �armed opposition.� Turkey says Roj TV is a PKK mouthpiece and has asked for it to be shut down. Denmark's failure to do so has caused tension between the two countries.

Şırnak Mayor Ertak is accused of calling for support to be given to the PKK in an interview he gave to France-24 news channel. He later denied making such a comment.

Ertak said he spoke in Kurdish to the French channel and that his statements were mistranslated. He denied saying, �The PKK supports Kurds and we support it. The PKK needs to be supported.�

Ertak said he would never say such a thing, accusing the channel of tampering with his comments. Frederic Helbert, the interviewer, told the Doğan News Agency that Ertak's statements surprised him, arguing that the translations were correct.

Two inspectors from the Interior Ministry will investigate the actions of the two mayors