The sentence stems from a statement made by the jailed Kurdish politician at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport in 2015, it said.

Demirtas said his remarks were aimed at criticizing the government and not the president during his court appearance via SEGBIS, a court-to-prison teleconferencing system on Monday, NTV said.

Demirtas was arrested in Nov. 2016, together with fellow HDO co-chair Figen Yuksekdag and several HDP deputies.

The European Court of Human Rights has twice demanded the release of Demirtas, which Turkish authorities have rejected.

The former HDP leader has been imprisoned since November 2016, facing several different charges including spreading propaganda on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Running from his cell, he came in third in the 2018 presidential election, winning nearly nine percent of the vote.

The sentencing comes after the Turkey’s top prosecutor sought last week to dissolve the HDP amid a sustained crackdown on the party and its elected officials.

Reporter's code: 50101