A German woman has been found guilty of being a member of a terrorist organization by the Turkish government. She is the third German citizen in as many months to be sentenced to prison in Turkey. A Turkish court in the city of Edirne has sentenced a German-Kurdish singer to six years and three months in prison, accusing her of being a member of the Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK).
She was acquitted on two further counts of incitement and insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. In all, she faced up to 13 years behind bars.
The woman, whose trial began on September 26, followed court proceedings via video link from the Bakirkoy women’s prison in Istanbul. Her attorney, Newroz Akalin, said the verdict will be appealed.
Turkey, as well as the European Union and the United States, consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
