Pro-Armenian ex-mayor sentenced to 15 years in prison in Turkey
Turkish court on Monday sentenced 17 people -- including co-mayor of the eastern province of Van -- to serve 7-15 years in prison on charges of being a member of the PKK organization which is outlawed in Turkey for being a terrorist organization.
As the local Daily Sabah newspaper writes, twelve other defendants in the trial were also given prison sentences of between 15 years and 7.5 years. The 13 defendants were detained by the Turkish police on June 7, 2012, and then they were released on conditions of trial without arrest. It is noted that a supporter of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Kaya, 38, had already served time in jail from 2012-2013 over the PKK's role in Van, the source said.
Ermenihaver reminds that Bekir Kaya has been one of the few politicians in Turkey who recognized the Armenian Genocide and visited the genocide Memorial complex in Yerevan years ago.