Several pro-Kurdish politicians have been sentenced to between nine and 42 years in prison by a Turkish court over deadly riots in 2014 that left dozens dead and hundreds of others injured.
A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced several pro-Kurdish politicians to between nine and 42 years in prison over deadly riots in 2014 by Kurds angered by what they perceived to be government inaction against Islamic State group militants who had besieged the Syrian border town of Kobani. The three days of clashes that broke out in October 2014 resulted in 37 deaths and left hundreds of others — police and civilians — injured.
total of 108 people were charged with various crimes, including the killings of the 37 victims and crimes against the integrity of the state. The defendants include HDP’s imprisoned former leaders, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, who were accused of organizing the protests and inciting the violence. Critics decried the trial as politically motivated and part of a wider government crackdown on the pro-Kurdish party.
The government has frequently cracked down on the pro-Kurdish political movement by stripping legislators of their parliamentary seats and removing elected mayors from office. Several HDP lawmakers have been jailed alongside Demirtas and Yuksekdag, on terror-related charges. The party has since changed its name to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, and is the third-largest grouping in Turkey’s parliament.
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