ADANA, Turkey, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old boy will spend more than three years in prison for his ties to the terrorist group, Kurdistan Workers' Party, a Turkish court has ruled.
The 6th High Criminal Court of the Turkish city of Adana ruled that the teenager was guilty of taking part in a protest organized by the Kurdish militant organization, Bianet said Thursday.
The teen was tried and convicted under a 2006 Counter Terror Law amendment that allowed Turkish courts to charge teenagers 15 to 18 as adults. Under the amendment, the 15-year-old boy was deemed a PKK member for simply attending the group's street protest.
Ethem Acikalin, the Adana branch director for the Human Rights Association, said such court findings are unacceptable.
"Seventeen children have been sentenced last two months for similar offenses," he told Bianet.
"These rulings are incompatible with Turkey's obligations arising from the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Turkish Constitution and the Law on the Protection of Children."
