October 02, 2015•Update: October 02, 2015
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
A criminal case seeking a five-year imprisonment term has been filed against Diyarbakir Mayor Gultan Kisanak on charges of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization".
The lawsuit came Friday after the Diyarbakir Fifth High Criminal Court accepted a petition against Kisanak, which was submitted by the Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The petition alleged that Kisanak had attended a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) rally in southeastern Diyarbakir province's Yenisehir district on the sidelines of the International Women's Day on March 8 in HDP's official election vehicle along with a group of 400 people.
At the beginning of the rally, a so-called anthem titled "Hey Enemy" was allegedly played, which includes phrases praising the PKK terrorist organization; the crowd at the rally also reportedly sang the anthem along with her.
The petition also claimed that Kisanak described the imprisoned PKK head, Abdullah Ocalan, as a "leader" and slain PKK terrorists as "martyred fellows" during her address to the rally.
"Kisanak called the rally site 'heart of Kurdistan' and the female terrorists that joined the PKK camps in the mountains as 'insurgents in the mountain'," the petition further alleged.
The court was urged that the mayor’s act could not termed as expressions of freedom of thought and speech.
Turkey has been hit by a wave of attacks since the Suruc bombing on July 20; more than a dozen security force members have been martyred and more than 1,300 people suspected of links to PKK, Daesh and DHKP-C have been arrested across the country.
PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, EU and the U.S.
