.Turkey jails Kurdish MP for 'terrorist' propaganda
A Kurdish member of Turkey's parliament was sentenced to 18 months in jail Tuesday for "terrorist" propaganda, according to court records seen by AFP while a group of Kurdish refugees said they were denied entry visas.
The judge ruled that Aysel Tugluk "spread the propaganda of a terrorist organization" in remarks favoring the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a bloody 25-year rebellion against Ankara and is listed as a terrorist group, the document said.
A lawyer for Tugluk, who belongs to the Democratic Society Party (DTP), said they would appeal the sentence, handed down by a court in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the Kurdish-majority southeast.
In a speech made at a rally in Diyarbakir in 2006 before she was elected parliament member, Tugluk praised a declaration signed by tens of thousands of Kurds upholding jailed PKK chieftain Abdullah Ocalan as their leader.
She also said PKK demands should be taken into account in efforts to end the Kurdish conflict.
The court sent the ruling to parliament, which, under Turkish law, has to lift a deputy's judicial immunity before any prison term can take effect.
Al Arabiya
The judge ruled that Aysel Tugluk "spread the propaganda of a terrorist organization" in remarks favoring the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a bloody 25-year rebellion against Ankara and is listed as a terrorist group, the document said.
A lawyer for Tugluk, who belongs to the Democratic Society Party (DTP), said they would appeal the sentence, handed down by a court in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the Kurdish-majority southeast.
In a speech made at a rally in Diyarbakir in 2006 before she was elected parliament member, Tugluk praised a declaration signed by tens of thousands of Kurds upholding jailed PKK chieftain Abdullah Ocalan as their leader.
She also said PKK demands should be taken into account in efforts to end the Kurdish conflict.
The court sent the ruling to parliament, which, under Turkish law, has to lift a deputy's judicial immunity before any prison term can take effect.
Al Arabiya
posted by madtom at 8:57 PM
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