ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The leaders of a banned political party in Turkey appeared in court to defend allegations they were advocating terrorism in the country.
Ahmet Turk, the leader of the outlawed Democratic Society Party, or DTP, and his deputy Aysel Tugluk testified before a court to face allegations they were advocating terrorism.
A court in December banned the party and excluded its leaders from the Turkish political process for five years.
Tugluk accepted the court's claims that her discussions on the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, were problematic for authorities, Turkey's English-language daily Today's Zaman reports
"But I also explained that we did not mean to endanger the country's unity," she said.
Several of the leaders in the banned party later joined forces with the Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, on the advice of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The DTP ban struck a blow to Ankara's push for a political solution to lingering issues with the Kurdish minority. Pro-Kurdish groups demonstrated in December in Istanbul and in the Kurdish south as tensions over the ban escalated.
Turk told reporters he was asked to defend charges of "promoting the organization (PKK)," which is listed as a terrorist organization in Washington and Ankara.
