Çağlar Demirel, one of 11 jailed deputies from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has been handed down a prison sentence of 90 months on terror charges.
HDP Diyarbakır deputy Demirel was first detained on Dec. 12, 2016 in Ankara and arrested in Diyarbakır the next day.
Demirel was given a 90-month sentence by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on charges of membership in a terrorist organization.
Currently, 11 HDP deputies including HDP Co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş are in jail.
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 and co-chairs have been arrested on terror charges.
The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries.