Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Hakkari deputy Nihat Akdoğan was released from jail by a court on Wednesday after spending around six months in prison.
Akdoğan was arrested on terror charges on Nov. 7 as part of an investigation overseen by the Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. He was jailed in Silivri Prison in İstanbul.
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. There are currently 11 HDP deputies behind bars including the party’s Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.
The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries.