ISTANBUL (AP) — Hundreds gathered Thursday in Istanbul to protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for his alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group.
Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was detained on Wednesday by anti-terrorist police over his alleged connection to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
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Istanbul Mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu addresses people during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Turkey's government on Thursday replaced Ozer with Istanbul’s deputy governor, a move the CHP’s leader, Ozgur Ozel and other politicians described as a “coup.”
The mayor’s arrest comes as Turkey is debating a tentative peace process to end a 40-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.
Demonstrators filled a square in Esenyurt after the government banned a rally outside the municipality building. Some carried banners that read: ”(We want) an elected mayor not an appointed mayor” and called for the resignation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
“In our view, this (government), which acts against the law and violates the constitution, has carried out a political coup. We will never accept it,” said Tulay Hatimogullari, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, whose supporters joined the rally in a show of solidarity.
Ozel, whose CHP made significant gains in local elections earlier this year, called for early elections.
Ozer, 64, is a former academic originally from Van in eastern Turkey. He was elected mayor of Esenyurt, a western suburb in Istanbul’s European side, in March local elections.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said an investigation found Ozer had maintained contacts with PKK figures for more than 10 years, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
Politicians and members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish movement have frequently been targeted over alleged links to the PKK, which is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
Legislators have been stripped of their parliamentary seats and mayors removed from office. Several lawmakers as well as thousands of party members have been jailed on terror-related charges since 2016.
Other opposition parties have been largely unscathed but the CHP metropolitan mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is currently appealing a prison sentence and political ban imposed by a court in December 2022 for “insulting” members of Turkey’s election board in 2019.
Imamoglu accused Erdogan's government of “plotting a dirty game" to snatch Esenyurt municipality away from the opposition “by declaring (Ozer) a terrorist for fictitious reasons.”
Istanbul Mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu addresses people during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Thursday it has information that some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine's border and preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops.
In a dramatic moment during a U.N. Security Council meeting, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, asked for more time to add to earlier comments condemning the increasing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
“We just received some information, just coming in now, that right now there are some 8,000 DPRK soldiers in Kursk Oblast,” Wood said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea. Kursk is a region that Ukrainian forces took by surprise in August.
“And I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia? That’s my only question and final point,” he said.
The Russian representative at the council meeting, which Russia called to discuss international peace and security, did not respond to the comment and the session was adjourned.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The deployment of up to 12,000 North Korean troops to Russia has become a key topic as U.S. and South Korean leaders meet in Washington this week, fueling concerns that the presence of those soldiers will further destabilize the Asia-Pacific and broaden Moscow's war on Ukraine.
As some of those troops moved closer to Ukraine this week from training sites in eastern Russia, the main questions revolve around what new military technologies North Korea might get from Russia in exchange for the deployment and whether it might lead other nations to send their own forces to fight in the war.
The discussions now move to the State Department, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are holding talks Thursday with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
Also Thursday, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year, demonstrating a potential advancement in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the mainland U.S. Some experts speculated that Russia may have provided technological assistance to North Korea over the launch.
As the meeting in Washington was underway, the U.S., South Korea and Japan released a joint statement condemning the missile launch as a “flagrant violation” of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and criticizing the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly the deployment of the North Korean troops.
“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilizing actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.
At a Pentagon news conference Wednesday, Austin said North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment were advancing toward Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilizing development.
Speaking alongside Kim, Austin said officials are discussing what to do about the North Korean deployment, which he acknowledged could “encourage others to take action.” He provided no details.
The United States and South Korea say some of the North Korean troops are heading to Russia's Kursk region on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.
Some North Korean advance units have arrived there, and Austin said “the likelihood is pretty high” that Russia will use them in combat.
North Korea’s move to tighten its relationship with Russia has raised concerns around the world about how that may expand the war and what Russian military aid will be delivered in exchange.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that as many as 4,500 North Korean troops are expected to be at the border this week and to begin directly participating in combat operations against Ukrainian forces in November.
Kim said he does not necessarily believe the deployment will trigger war on the Korean Peninsula but that it could increase security threats.
There is a “high possibility” that North Korea would ask for advanced technologies from Russia in exchange for its troops, such as receiving tactical nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, he said through an interpreter.
Russia has had to shift some resources to the Kursk border region to respond to Ukraine’s offensive.
“They're doing this because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has lost a lot of troops,” Austin said, adding that Moscow has a choice between mobilizing more of its own forces or turning to others for help.
The U.S. has estimated there are about 10,000 North Korean troops now in Russia. Seoul and its allies assess that the number has increased to 11,000, according to a senior South Korean presidential official, who spoke on condition of anonymity during a background briefing. Ukraine has put the figure higher, at up to 12,000.
A Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that North Korean troops are stationed 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Ukraine's border with Russia. The official, who was not authorized to disclose the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide any additional detail.
North Korea also has provided munitions to Russia, and earlier this month, the White House released images it said were of North Korea shipping 1,000 containers of military equipment there by rail.
Lederer reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun speaks during a joint press briefing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin smiles during a joint press briefing with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, speaks during a joint press briefing with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, right, at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, welcomes South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, left, to the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
