Van mayor, two others arrested on charges of KCK membership

Kaya and five others -- Başkale Mayor Hacer Saruhan, Bostaniçi Mayor Nezahat Ergüneş, former Başkale Mayor İhsan Güler and former Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) provincial Van branch heads Cüneyt Caniş and Mihriban Şah -- were questioned by prosecutors on Saturday. Prosecutors released Saruhan after the interrogation, but referred the other five suspects to a court for arrest. The court released Ergüneş and Şah, but ordered the arrest of Kaya, Caniş and Güler on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. On Thursday morning, police raided a number of homes, businesses and offices, including Kaya’s house, as part of an investigation into the KCK headed by a Van specially authorized deputy public prosecutor.

The investigation into the KCK, which prosecutors say is an umbrella organization for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other affiliated groups, started in December 2009 and a large number of suspected KCK members, including several mayors from the BDP, have been detained.