Kurdish Mayor Jailed In Turkey For Supporting Kurdish Rebels
The court in Diyarbakir convicted Ahmet Ertak - the mayor of nearby Sirnak and member of Turkey's main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society party, or DTP, - under a provision penalizing diffusing propaganda for outlawed groups.
In the 2007 interview with France-24, Ertak had said that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, waging a separatist campaign "should be supported as the PKK supported the Kurdish people."
His lawyer said they would appeal the sentence.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish government and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has claimed some 44,000 lives.
The DTP is facing a possible ban by the constitutional court for alleged links with PKK rebels. The party, which urges a peaceful resolution to the violent conflict in the southeast, denies the allegations.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 20, 2008 05:28 ET (10:28 GMT)
Publié le 20 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones
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