Turkey: 56 Kurdish Mayors on Trial

Wed.September 27,2006

Fifty-six Kurdish mayors went on trial in southeastern Diyarbak{inodot}r on charges of helping Kurdish separatists.

They are charged by state prosecutors with "knowingly and willingly" helping Kurdish rebels when they urged Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark not to close the Danish-based Kurdish satellite broadcaster ROJ TV.

Turkey accuses ROJ of being a mouthpiece of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. The mayors each face up to 15 years in jail if convicted. The judge adjourned the trial until Nov. 21.
Source: The New York Times