ANKARA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish government has recently intensified operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) both in the domestic and in the international levels.
The Turkish Interior Ministry announced on Monday to dismiss three pro-Kurdish party mayors in the country's eastern and southeastern provinces, as well as the arrest of more than 400 people over alleged links to the PKK, deemed as a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
The mayors of Diyarbakir, Van and Mardin, who were elected in the March elections, were deprived of their duties and replaced by state-appointed governors, according to a statement from the ministry.
It added that the mayors were removed from office pending judicial processes.
The statement also accused them of changing street and park names to the names of terrorists and attending terrorists' funerals.
The mayors were elected to office in March from the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), which Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government frequently accuse of links to the PKK.
Later on Monday, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay vowed on Twitter to take firm actions against municipality officials that supported terrorism and their leaders, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
"Judicial and administrative investigations determined that municipal funds (in three cities) were being used in favor of a bloody terrorist organization, and necessary actions have been taken," said Oktay.
"The will of the nation can never be left under the hand of terror," he added.
The HDP denied the accusation, insisting that it advocates Kurdish rights through legal means. Nearly a dozen party lawmakers, including former head Selahattin Demirtas and numerous mayors, are currently in jail.
In 2016, during a state of emergency declared following a failed military coup against Erdogan, dozens of mayors from the southeastern region were removed out of office and replaced by government appointees.
The Turkish leader had warned prior to the March 31 local elections that pro-Kurdish candidates suspected of ties with the PKK could be replaced by caretakers should they win.
"If you happen to send the opportunities and resources provided by the state to the terrorist organization (PKK), we will once again, without hesitation or warning, appoint our trustees," he said during an election rally prior to the vote.
On the same day, police forces detained 418 people in raids across the country, who were suspected of links with the PKK, which is waging an armed conflict against the Turkish state since early 1980s, Anadolu Agency reported.
A large scale offensive targeting the PKK members were also launched in the country's east and southeast, destroying 43 caves and shelters used by the group.
The operation will "resolutely continue until all terrorists will be neutralized in the region," said the Turkish Interior Ministry in a statement.
In recent months, Turkey has also escalated its military campaign against PKK militants abroad.
On Monday, Turkish fighter planes bombed the mountainous Qandil region in northern Iraq, neutralizing five rebels.
Earlier, Turkish Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed PKK terror targets in northwestern Syria, adding the operation was in response to the attacks and harassment fire of the PKK/YPG (People's Protection Units) on Turkish military sites in the area of the Operation Euphrates Shield.
