Turkey: Australian Daesh member gets 7-year sentence

By Izzet Mazi</p> <p>KILIS, Turkey (AA) – A Turkish court on Friday sentenced an Australian national to seven-and-a-half years in prison for being a member of the terrorist group Daesh.</p> <p>Neil Christopher Prakash, currently remanded in custody in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep, attended his hearing in Kilis, also in the southeast, via videoconferencing.</p> <p>In a statement to the court, Prakash affirmed that he had been a member of the terrorist group for some time, but later “regretted it and left.” </p> <p>The trial was followed by officials from the Australian Embassy in the capital Ankara and some foreign journalists.</p> <p>Prakash was caught in October 2016 while trying to illegally cross into Kilis at the border with Syria.</p> <p>Last December, Australian Interior Minister Peter Dutton announced that his citizenship had been revoked.</p> <p> <p>*Writing by Dilara Hamit