Turkey charges pro-Kurdish MP for promoting terror organization

The court charged Aysel Tugluk, deputy from the Democratic Society Party's (DTP), over a speech she made at a party meeting in the southeastern province of Batman in 2006, Dogan News Agency reported.Â

She said during her speech that the party would not brand the PKK a terrorist organization, saying "people considered terrorists by you, were heroes to others ".

Tugluk, who did not appear in court for the ruling, is expected to appeal the conviction.

Tugluk, a former chairwoman of her party, will only have to go behind bars if the appeals court upholds Thursday’s verdict and lawmakers then agree to lift her parliamentary immunity.

The PKK, which conducts deadly attacks on Turkish soldiers, as well as civilians in the country, is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, including the EU and the United States.

Her party also faces the possibility of being disbanded for its alleged ties to the PKK. The country's constitutional court is deliberating the case.Â