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full screen Members of the pro-Kurdish DEM party protest in the Turkish parliament. Photo: Mustafa Istemi/AP/TT
A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced a pro-Kurdish mayor to more than 19 years in prison for alleged terrorism, according to his lawyer.
The now former mayor, Mehmet Siddik Akis, was removed from his post just two days earlier, which provoked strong reactions in, among others, the Turkish parliament.
Akis is active in the DEM party, which is accused by the Turkish authorities of colluding with the terrorist-labeled PKK. Akis himself denies connections to the PKK and calls the legal process “political”.
Mehmet Siddik Akis was the mayor of the city of Hakkari in the southeastern part of the country. He is the first mayor to be ousted since local elections in March, when his party took control of several major cities in southeastern Turkey.
Verbal brawls broke out in the Ankara parliament when the news of Mehmet Siddik Akis broke. DEM has 57 out of 594 seats in parliament.
Three weeks ago, the former leader of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtas, was sentenced to 42 years in prison.