A Turkish court has sentenced four Kurdish politicians, Aysel Tuğluk, Halil Aksoy, Nazmi Gür and Adil Zozani, to prison on terrorism charges for a 2012 visit to a conflict-affected region.
A delegation of representatives from several political parties had visited the Şemdinli (Şemzînan) district of Hakkari (Colemêrg) on 17 August 2012, following a two-week conflict between the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the People’s Defence Forces (HPG), the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Media footage emerged of HPG members stopping the delegation’s convoy for identity checks on their return, prompting an investigation. Subsequently, in 2021, the four politicians, along with others including the former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Figen Yüksekdağ, were charged with ‘terrorist propaganda’. The indictment claimed that the footage showed members of the delegation exchanging greetings and making victory signs with alleged militants, and also accused them of making statements to the press supporting the PKK. Yüksekdağ’s case was subsequently combined with her other cases.
While the prosecution claims that the visit showed illegal links to the PKK, the politicians on trial said during Thursday’s hearing that the visit, which coincided with the beginning of peace talks between Turkey and the PKK to end the conflict, was authorised by the Interior Ministry and the governor’s office.
During the trial on Thursday, the lawyers of the politicians asked for an extended investigation, including an expert examination of parliamentary speeches and a re-examination of media material. They also argued that Tuğluk suffers from dementia and asked for the prosecution to be postponed.
The court rejected all requests and sentenced Zozani and Aksoy to seven years and six months, and Tuğluk and Gür to six years.
