News / Turkey

Turkey to try professor for PKK exam question

Wednesday, 03 February 2016 7:29 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 03 February 2016 7:28 AM ]

A protestor holds a banner with the photo of the founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan in Marseille, in southern France, October 17, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

A Turkish professor has been accused of spreading “terrorist propaganda” by devising an exam question about imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Ankara University professor Resat Baris Unlu is to be tried over the accusation on Wednesday, when he would have to explain why he had asked his students to compare two articles written by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party leader, Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reported.

According to the paper, the students were asked to make comparisons between Ocalan’s 1978 manifesto, entitled “The Path of the Kurdistan Revolution” and an article he wrote in 2012 called “Democratic Modernity as the Construction of Local System in the Middle East.”

By posing the question, Unlu tried “to legitimise (Ocalan’s) opinions and impress upon (his students) the idea that he was a political leader,” prosecutors say.

The academic risks a seven-year jail sentence.

Human rights organizations and international authorities have blamed Turkey for violating freedom of expression in the country by treating dissidents and critics in a heavy-handed manner.

A man walks along a road damaged in fighting between government troops and separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in southeastern Turkey, January 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Ankara has also come under spotlight for the civilian fatalities reportedly caused during its conflict with the outlawed group, which is seeking to establish an independent state in southeastern Turkey.

The country has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq.

According to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, around 200 civilians, including 39 children, have been killed in military operations against PKK since last August.

Several thousands of Kurdish residents in Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey have, meanwhile, fled the embattled city amid intense clashes between government forces and the PKK militants.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by many countries.

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