The Antalya Regional Court of Justice has approved a 34 year, 9 month prison sentence for six university students, who are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), several media outlets in Turkey reported.
The students, Merve Nur İşleyici, Ceylan Bozkurt, Fatma Erez, Özgür Sevinç Şimşek, Didar Boza and Necla Unay, were given prison sentences by the Isparta 2nd High Criminal Court in May 2016 for “disseminating propaganda for a terror group” and membership in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organization that encompasses the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges. (turkeypurge.com)
