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Turkish Prosecutors Demand Imprisonment Of
Kurdish Mayor
4.7.2006
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ANKARA
(AP)--Prosecutors have demanded the imprisonment of
the mayor of Turkey's largest Kurdish-dominated city
for allegedly being a member of an outlawed Kurdish
guerrilla group, the prosecutor's office said
Tuesday.
The prosecutors demanded Mayor Osman Baydemir of
Diyarbakir, the largest city in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast, be convicted and sentenced up to
15 years in prison on charges stemming from remarks
he made during antigovernment riots by Kurds in
March.
The riots, which broke out during funerals for
several Kurdish rebels killed by Turkish troops,
lasted for weeks and left more than 10 people dead.
Authorities have accused Baydemir of encouraging a
Kurdish uprising after he was seen publicly
embracing and congratulating a masked rioter at that
time. Prosecutors said public remarks Baydemir made
after the demonstrators were killed, such as "we
share your grief," amounted to siding with and
supporting the rebel group of the Kurdistan Workers
Party, or PKK. |
Osman Baydemir, The Kurdish mayor of Diyarbakir in
southeastern Turkey (Kurdistan-Turkey) |
The group, which seeks autonomy for Kurds in
Turkey's southeast, is listed as a terrorist
organization by the European Union and the U.S.
Baydemir already faces previous criminal charges for
his alleged ties to the rebels. He was accused of
supporting the PKK by allegedly allowing a city
ambulance to carry the body of one of the rebels
killed by security forces.
The mayor is a member of the pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party, which Turkish officials have said has
close ties to the autonomy-seeking rebels.
Prosecutors also filed charges against another
Kurdish mayor, Huseyin Kalkan of the southeastern
city of Batman, over alleged membership in the PKK.
Several pro-Kurdish parties have been shut down for
ties to PKK rebels, who have been fighting for an
autonomous homeland in Turkey's southeast since
1984. Turkey doesn't recognize the Kurds as an
ethnic minority, and so doesn't extend them minority
rights such as being educated in their own language.
The E.U. has demanded Turkey improve its treatment
of the Kurds and other minorities if it wants to
achieve its aim of joining the 25-nation bloc.
AP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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