23 clergymen, including the chairman, executives and members of the Religious Scholars Assistance and Solidarity Association (DİAYDER) are standing trial for allegedly "being members of an illegal organisation" (meaning the PKK) and "making propaganda for an illegal organisation" for reading sermons, preaching and providing aid to some families in need in Kurdish.

The hearing of the case was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan on Thursday.

Ekrem Baran, the chairman of the association, and some of the clergymen on trial and their lawyers attended the hearing.

During the hearing, the court committee stated that a new investigation had been opened against 4 of the defendants and the investigation file was added to the case file.

Taking the floor at the hearing, lawyer Mesut Orak demanded that the allegations of aiding "organisation-affiliated" persons be investigated and that the persons receiving aid be heard at the hearing.

Stating that these allegations are abstract, Orak said that the accounts of the aid recipients would affect the merits of the case and added: "In this way, we want to show this issue concretely."

The court stated that they would evaluate this request and adjourned the trial to 3-4 October for the review of the investigation files against 4 defendants.