Turkish poet Ahmet Telli has been sentenced to ten months in prison in Ankara for "terror propaganda". The background to the criminal proceedings was a rally on 11 May 2017 at which Telli spoke and recited one of his poems, over which the prosecution demanded eight years in prison for the 76-year-old poet.

The trial at the 26th Heavy Penal Court in Ankara was observed by the Science, Art and Literature Association, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and the Human Rights Association IHD. More than fifty observers from home and abroad took part on the last day of the trial.

Ahmet Telli said after the prosecution's plea that he had taken part in the criminalised rally out of his responsibility as an intellectual. "My intention was to recite a poem. As an intellectual, I have participated in social causes before, that is my responsibility," Telli said, demanding acquittal.

The poet’s lawyer, Umut Vedat Acar, echoed the demand, pointing out that 75 other defendants had already gone unpunished in connection with the rally because no criminal offence had been committed. The court did not agree with this argumentation, but the execution of the prison sentence was suspended.

The rally in Ankara took place after the death of Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu in Rojava. The internationalist from Turkey was a commander of the United Freedom Forces (Birleşik Özgürlük Güçleri, BÖG) and died in May 2017 in Raqqa fighting ISIS. Telli had spoken at the rally about the fraternity of peoples.