Turkey: Ex-opposition MP jailed for terror propaganda

By Ismet Karakas and Serdar Acil

ANKARA (AA) - A former lawmaker of opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was sentenced on Wednesday to more than one year in prison for spreading terrorism-related propaganda, according to judicial sources.

Mizgin Irgat, a former HDP lawmaker from eastern Bitlis province, was accused of having attended a commemorative ceremony for the terrorists neutralized by the Turkish security forces in a counter-terrorism operation on Jan. 4, 2016.

Around a dozen HDP lawmakers are currently in prison pending trial for terrorism-related offenses after their parliamentary immunity was lifted in May 2016.

Turkey's government accuses the HDP of having links to the PKK.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.