The court in Diyarbakir convicted Ahmet Ertak -- the mayor of nearby Sirnak and member of Turkey's main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society party (DTP) -- under a provision penalising diffusing propaganda for outlawed groups.

In the 2007 interview with France-24, Ertak had said that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) waging a separatist campaign against Ankara "should be supported as the PKK supported the Kurdish people."

His lawyer said they would appeal the sentence.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and much of the international community, picked up arms for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has claimed some 44,000 lives.

The DTP is currently facing a possible ban by the constitutional court for links with PKK rebels. The party, which urges a peaceful resolution to the violent conflict in the southeast, denies the allegations.