Turkey Imprisons Two Former Kurdish Parliamentarians, Reports Reuters

A Turkish court has imposed lengthy prison sentences on two Kurdish politicians for allegedly being part of a terrorist organization and spreading terrorist propaganda, according to reports from Demiroren News Agency.

Gultan Kisanak, a former member of parliament who served as the joint mayor of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, received a sentence of 14 years and three months. Kisanak was arrested in 2016 and stated in court that she had been detained for two years prior to her sentencing. She maintained her innocence, asserting that her actions were based on truth, legality, and humanitarian principles. “Everything I do is within the framework of democratic politics,” she claimed.

Sebahat Tuncel, another former parliamentarian, was sentenced to 15 years. Tuncel has been on a hunger strike for three weeks and was absent from the court hearing.

Kisanak faced accusations of making speeches in support of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been engaged in an insurgency in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeastern region since the 1980s, resulting in over 40,000 deaths.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.

President Tayyip Erdogan has emphasized that removing elected officials and civil servants with alleged ties to the PKK is crucial in the fight against the group.