Diyarbakir, Turkey: Turkey yesterday began trying 151 politicians and activists, including 12 elected mayors, charged with links to Kurdish rebels in a case testing a European Union-inspired drive to broaden Kurdish rights.
The defendants are accused of crimes including membership in an illegal armed group, spreading its propaganda, undermining Turkey's territorial integrity and violating laws on public demonstrations, according to a 7,500-page indictment.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to address the grievances of Kurds, who make up about 20 per cent of Turkey's population, to help end a 26-year war with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.
