Former HDP mayor sentenced to prison over terror links

DİYARBAKIR

Former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı has been sentenced to over nine years in prison for charges related to terrorism, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on March 9.

Mızraklı, the former mayor of Diyarbakı from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) received jail time on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "spreading terrorist propaganda," the agency cited anonymous security sources as saying.

In mid-August, mayors in Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van provinces were suspended over alleged terror links; they were all from the HDP, which Turkey’s government accuses of having links to the PKK terror group.

PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.