HDP former Ağrı MP Halil Aksoy has been released from prison after more than four years and was met by party colleagues and relatives in front of Kandira prison in western Turkey.

The sentence was surprisingly lifted after the verdict in the trial against the 73-year-old politician in Istanbul. Aksoy was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for membership in a terrorist organization and propaganda for a terrorist organisation. The court ordered his release due to the previous length of his detention.

Former HDP deputy Halil Aksoy was a member of the Central Executive Council of the Party of Democratic Regions (DBP) before his arrest in September 2016. He was arrested for a speech he gave in 2011.