AKP District Head Kidnapped by PKK Members in East Turkey
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The district head of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Mazgirt branch in Turkey’s eastern province of Tunceli was kidnapped by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
A group of PKK militants hijacked a road near the Mazgirt district of Tunceli on Saturday and started conducting ID checks, where they came across the head of the AKP in Mazgirt, Süleyman Canpolat who was accompanied by the village headman of Göktepe, Gökhan Sonar.
PKK members set the car on fire after pulling Canpolat and Sonar out of the car. Later on, they held Canpolat but released Sonar, Turkey-based Hurriyet Daily News reported on Sunday, citing also other local media.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, the provincial head of AKP’s Tunceli branch, Erkan Eroğlu, confirmed Canpolat's abduction, saying they had learned the news from the security forces.
Meanwhile, two main roads in Tunceli have been closed for three days due to security reasons, Cihan News Agency reported Sunday.
Tunceli governorate has said it has closed two separate roads connecting Tunceli to the neighboring province of Erzincan and Tunceli’s district of Ovacık in order to conduct operations against members of "terrorist organizations".
PKK members have hijacked the two roads and have been conducting ID checks for a while, diminishing the security of the roads.