ANKARA — Authorities are intensifying a crackdown on Turkey’s second-biggest opposition party, sacking two dozen of its elected mayors and forcing it to consider withdrawing from parliament and the municipalities it controls to potentially trigger by-elections.

The purge coincides with a military operation Turkey launched in neighboring Syria last month to attack a Kurdish militia that had fought alongside US troops to defeat the Islamic State. The incursion has stoked nationalist sentiment and has deepened animosity toward Kurdish political actors at home.

The left-wing Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), whose base is predominantly Kurdish, will meet with constituents on Wednesday to discuss its response to the dismissals, including calls from supporters for "sine-i millet," or returning to the "bosom of the nation” by collectively leaving political posts, HDP party spokesman Gunay Kubilay told reporters.

“We are not engaged in a speculative debate about whether or not to quit the municipalities and parliament. This is not a personal matter nor just the HDP’s problem. This decision requires input from the HDP’s more than 6 million voters,” he said on Nov. 15.