A Turkish court has sentenced Syrian Orthodox monk to 25 months in prison on terrorism charges after he gave a piece of bread to two people who had turned up at the gates of his monastery.
The Mardin Criminal Court found Syrian Orthodox monk Sefer Bileçen guilty of complicity with terrorist organizations and activities as the people he helped were members of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) that the Ankara government classifies as a terrorist organization.
The monk is custodian of the old Syrian Orthodox monastery of Mor Yakup (St Jacob) in Nusaybin (formerly Nisibi, now part of the Turkish province of Mardin).