DAMASCUS — A Syrian security court on Sunday sentenced seven Kurds to jail terms ranging between six months and 10 years for belonging to an outlawed Kurdish party, according to a Syrian human rights lawyer. Anwar Al Bunni said the State Security Court convicted Balkhati Abdu, Mohammad Khalil Ellow and Walat Yunis to two and a half years in prison each on charges of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.In a statement, he said the court also sentenced Ali Sadek Ellow and Loqman Othman to seven years in prison and Ali Mohya to sixth months in prison. Ahmad Haj Omar was sentenced by the court for ten years on charges of “trying to change the entity of the society and weakening the national feeling,” Al Bunni said.
The PKK, which has battled Turkish forces for years while seeking autonomy in southeastern Turkey, once had offices in Syria. But authorities cracked down on the groupÂ’s activities as Syrian-Turkish ties improved, particularly amid fears over the growing influence of IraqÂ’s Kurds.