Turkey: Opposition HDP lawmaker gets prison sentence

By Aziz Aslan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced a lawmaker from the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to over six years in prison for being a member of an armed terrorist group, according to a judicial source.

The 4th Heavy Penal Court in southeastern Diyarbakir province handed Kemal Bulbul, the HDP lawmaker from Antalya, six years and three months in prison, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The HDP is accused of having links to the YPG/PKK terror group by the Turkish government.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Sena Guler in Ankara