When respect is a crime

last updated 8 January 2015

Diyarbakir, Turkey

A Kurdish politician was sentenced to six months in prison this week for referring to jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan as Mr. Ocalan. The court said that Ahmet Turk, leader of the Democratic Society Party, was implying respect for Ocalan by calling him “Bey,” or Mister. It was Turk’s second conviction in a week. Last week, he was sentenced to 18 months for distributing party materials in the Kurdish language; Turkish law allows distribution of political literature only in Turkish. Democratic Society Party officials said authorities are trying to harass the pro-Kurdish party out of existence before the general elections later this year. Kurds make up about 20 percent of Turkey’s population.