Among the targets of the sentences handed down on Thursday, in a macro-trial involving 108 defendants, on charges of "undermining the unity of the state" and "inciting violence", are the former leaders of the left-wing pro-Kurdish party HDP (Democratic Peoples' Party, now DEM, Democracy and Peoples' Equality Party) Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.

Demirtas, who ran for President of Turkey in 2015, was sentenced to 42 years in prison, and Yuksekdag, to 30 years and three months.

In total, 24 people, mostly HDP politicians, were sentenced to terms totaling 408 years in prison.

The defendants also include wanted members of the Turkish Kurdish guerrilla PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and the Syrian Kurdish militia PYD (Democratic Union Party).

The largest protests against these sentences are still taking place in Istanbul, Adana and Diyarbakir, the capital of the southeastern region, where the Kurdish population in Turkey is majority.

The rallies, with slogans in favor of Demirtas and against fascism, had been banned in 18 provinces of the country by the Turkish Islamist government, to "avoid possible social incidents".

In addition to thousands of people from Turkey's Kurdish minority, supporters of left-wing parties participated in the protests, also condemning the authoritarianism of the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The trial whose sentences were handed down this week concerned the riots that occurred in October 2014 in 34 Turkish cities, to protest against the siege of the Syrian city of Kobani, mostly Kurdish, by the 'jihadist' group Islamic State (IS).

The protests caused 37 deaths, mostly supporters of the left-wing pro-Kurdish movement, and 326 security agents and 761 civilians were injured.

A total of 269 public buildings and 197 schools were burned down and 1,700 homes and commercial establishments were looted.

The defendants have always claimed their innocence and, while admitting that they called for protests against the siege of Kobani, they denied inciting violence.

The Turkish left-wing opposition condemned the trial, claiming that it was a political trial.

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