Prosecutors in Turkey have called for a 142 year jail term for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party co-leader, Selahattin Demirtas, on charges of links to Kurdish militants.<br /><br /> His co-leader Figen Yuksekdag faces 83 years.<br /><br /> #HDP co-chairs hdpdemirtas and FigenYuksekdag face sentences of 142 years and 83 years.#FreeKurds in #Turkey #TwitterKurds pic.twitter.com/wr6etbVgu9— Baxtiyar Goran (@BaxtiyarGoran) January 17, 2017<br /><br /> Demirtas was taken into custody in November along with nine other HDP MPs.<br /><br /> The ten are accused of contact with and membership of the outlawed “Kurdistan Workers’ Party’‘:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers’_Party (PKK), <br />which has been engaged in armed insurrection against the Turkish state since 1984.<br /><br /> #Turkey Kurd leader risks up to 142 years in jail#SelahattinDemirtas https://t.co/SXNwFAVArf pic.twitter.com/OZqRHiQ60O— Gulf-Times (@GulfTimes_QATAR) January 17, 2017<br /><br /> All the defendants deny links with the PKK and claim the cases are politically motivated. <br /><br /> Demirtas says he is being hounded because he opposes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s drive to change the constitution, handing more power to the presidency.<br /><br /> Peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state broke down in 2015 amid claims the Kurdish group was rearming.<br /><br /> As many as 40,000 people have lost their lives in three decades of fighting.<br />
