DIYARBAKIR — A lawmaker accused of spreading propaganda for a Kurdish guerrilla group fighting an insurgency against the Turkish state was Tuesday sentenced to more than 14 years in jail.

Kurdish MP Aysel Tugluk was convicted over speeches she made between 2007 and 2011 advocating talks with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 28-year separatist campaign in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Ankara says the PKK is a “terrorist organisation” and is opposed to any negotiation.

Turkey has stepped up prosecutions of politicians and activists accused of links to the militants after secret government talks with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan were made public by the media, leading to a backlash from nationalist Turks.

In May, Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana was sentenced to 10 years in prison for making similar speeches. — Reuters