TURKEY - Feb. 23 - Kurdish Mayors Charged With Rebel Links.

3 Kurdish mayors arrested on Feb. 19-20 are charged with aiding separatist guerrillas, in a step likely to stir political controversy in Turkey and abroad. Lawyer Sinan Tanrikulu says the mayors of Siirt, Bingol and Diyarbakir, regional capital of the largely Kurdish south-east, had been remanded in custody by the Diyarbakir State Security Court. The ruling comes after 7 hours of questioning by the state prosecutor and 4 hours of submissions at the court. The mayors, elected in April in polls that saw sweeping gains for their Kurdish HADEP party, are charged with helping Kurdistan Workers' Party guerrillas. (Many had viewed the new HADEP administrations with suspicion, but saw some prospect that they could open the door to dialogue in an area racked by conflict for 15 years. The arrests appeared to deal a blow to those hopes and could strain ties with the European Union. Turkey received the status of EU membership candidate in December and will be expected to make concessions on minority rights for Kurds, notably in broadcasting and education, before negotiations can open.) Pres. Demirel says the issue was beyond politics and purely a matter for the country's courts. (The EU is expected to make a diplomatic demarche over the charges, possibly sending envoys to Ankara, but attempt to avoid any public debate with Turkey.) The Council of Europe expresses surprise that "the authorities, instead of seeking dialogue, are imprisoning elected representatives who have received the strong support of the citizens of their cities". Kemal Pekoz, head of the Istanbul office of HADEP, says he believed the arrests could lead to disorder. He says: "[The authorities] must set our mayors free immediately...to prevent Turkey entering a more tense atmosphere. Otherwise they will prepare the ground for forces which want the sort of disorder which poisons the peaceful social atmosphere". (Ties with the EU were already strained by the death sentence handed down to Kurdish guerrilla leader Ocalan, who was captured in 1999, sentenced to death. An outbreak of trouble in the south-east could also prompt right-wing members of the government coalition to raise again the issue of Ocalan's execution, which has been deferred pending his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. HADEP campaigns for Kurdish rights and a negotiated end to the conflict with the guerrillas. But the party itself faces possible closure by courts later 2000 on accusations that it serves the PKK. Ankara has shown little interest in dealing with HADEP and views PKK proclamations of a cease-fire as a political ruse.