Dozens Stand Trial in Turkey for Links to Kurdish Rebels

Forty-four people, many of them journalists, went on trial in Turkey on Monday for alleged links to outlawed Kurdish rebels, the third trial in a wave of legal action targeting the group.

The suspects are accused of links with the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), an organization deemed by the authorities as the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Prosecutors accuse the 44 defendants of crimes including "membership in an armed organization", which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, according to the Anatolia news agency.

At least 12 of the suspects face up to 22 and a half years in prison on charges of "forming and running an armed organization".

Monday's hearing is the latest in a series of trials in which dozens of people, including lawyers, politicians and journalists, stand accused of similar crimes in Istanbul courts, where several related cases are pending.

The wider crackdown against the outlawed Kurdish rebels and their supporters began in 2009.

Since then, 700 people have been arrested pending trial over alleged links to the KCK, according to government figures, although critics say the true number arrested tops 3,500.

Ankara says the KCK wants to replace Turkish government institutions in Kurdish-majority southeastern Anatolia with its own political structures.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in the Kurdish-majority region in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.