Turkey: opposition mayor, others arrested over ties to coup Turkey has arrested an opposition mayor over his alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed by Ankara for a 2016 failed coup attemptANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish authorities have arrested a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party over his alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday. Anadolu Agency said Burak Oguz, the mayor of the Aegean coastal town of Urla, was arrested late Monday for alleged ties to Fethullah Gulen's network. Oguz, who was elected in local elections in March, is the first mayor from the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, to be arrested on terror charges. At least 14 elected mayors belonging to Turkey's pro-Kurdish party have previously been detained for alleged ties to outlawed Kurdish rebels. Those detained are suspected of using a messaging app that Turkey says was used by coup plotters to communicate with each other.

Source: ABC News December 17, 2019 09:22 UTC