Turkey dismissed the pro-Kurdish mayors of three southeastern cities on Monday for alleged ties to Kurdish militants, just two weeks after President Tayyip Erdogan's main ally made a proposal for ending the militants' 40-year insurgency in the southeast.

Turkey on Monday sacked three mayors in the Kurdish-majority southeast on alleged "terrorism" charges, despite Ankara's apparent desire to seek a rapprochement with the Kurdish community.

Local governors replaced the mayors in the provincial centres of Mardin and Batman, while the mayor of Halfeti in Sanliurfa province was also unseated, it added. All belonged to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party,

Turkey on Monday sacked three mayors facing terrorism charges in the Kurdish-majority southeast and replaced them with trustees.

On Monday, Turkey dismissed pro-Kurdish mayors from three southeastern cities, alleging connections to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), just weeks after a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a plan to end the group’s four-decade conflict.