On September 19, 1997, an arrest warrant was issued for Öztürk, editor of the leftist weekly Kurtulus, for violating Article 168/1 of the Penal Code.
Öztürk surrendered to the court on October 13, and thereupon was charged with leading the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). The main evidence cited at her trial was her publication and distribution of an unspecified “special edition” of Kurtulus. The prosecution also said she had met with two alleged members of the DHKP-C. She was convicted on December 24 and sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison. She is in Ankara Closed Prison.
In September 1997, Öztürk had faced charges under Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law for allegedly spreading propaganda in the press on behalf of an outlawed organization. Those charges were voided on September 4 by an Istanbul State Security Court in accordance with the government’s August 14, 1997, amnesty for editors.