Osman Baydemir, mayor of Diyarbakir and one of Turkey's most popular Kurdish politicians, was sentenced for "praising crime and criminals" in remarks he made during deadly unrest in the city in March last year.

The court then converted the sentence to a 1,500-Turkish lira (715-euro/1,133-dollar) fine.

Baydemir had hailed "the courage" of young Kurdish rioters as he tried to reason with them in a bid to end the unrest that erupted over the killing of several separatist Kurdish rebels in clashes with the army.

The authorities had accused the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of orchestrating the riots that began in Diyarbakir and spread to other towns and to Istanbul, claiming a total of 16 lives.

It was the second sentence this week against Baydemir, who was among 53 mayors sentenced to more than two months over a letter they sent to the Danish prime minister last year, urging him to ignore Ankara's calls to ban a Denmark-based TV station, which Turkey says is a PKK mouthpiece.

Their terms were also converted to fines.

Kurdish politicians in Turkey are routinely accused of supporting the PKK, which has waged a bloody 23-year campaign for self-rule in the southeast and is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community.