ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's government will take over the running of 28 municipalities, ousting elected mayors and other administrators accused of links to the Kurdish rebels, the interior minister said Friday. Turkey declared a state of emergency following a failed military coup attempt on July 15 that allows the government to rule by decree. Hundreds of demonstrators, including teachers who were suspended, took to the streets in the mainly-Kurdish city of Diyarbakir to protest the government move. "Under the authority provided by the decree with the force of law, within 15 days, the administration of 28 municipalities will no longer be with the terrorists," the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Soylu as saying. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Turkey's pro-Kurdish party of being the PKK's political arm — an accusation the People's Democratic Party rejects.

Source: New York Times September 09, 2016 15:46 UTC