Hundreds in Turkey protest the arrest and ouster of opposition mayor

ISTANBUL (AP) — Hundreds of people have gathered in Istanbul to 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. Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, was detained on Wednesday by anti-terrorist police over his alleged connection to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. On Thursday, the government replaced Ozer with Istanbul’s deputy governor – in a move 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.