A German court Thursday handed down a three years and three months sentence for a member of the PKK. The verdict comes after Turkey's criticism of Germany being lenient on members and supporters of the terrorist group.

The 47-year-old unidentified defendant was convicted by the superior regional court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart for belonging to the PKK, which it called "an especially dangerous terrorist organization."

Prosecutors said he was a PKK functionary in Germany for 30 months, executing orders from the group's leadership on fundraising, propaganda and recruitment. The court explained away the lenient sentence by stating that the man was "abused" by Turkey for his Kurdish ethnicity before leaving Turkey.

Turkey has repeatedly accused Berlin of harboring "terrorists" and failing to respond to requests to hand over PKK suspects.

The PKK is listed as a terror organization not just by Turkey but also by the European Union and the United States.

A recent report released by the German Interior Ministry revealed a sharp increase in offences committed last year by the PKK. In 2016, crimes committed by PKK followers in Germany increased by 97.6 percent and reached 1,597 cases, according to the report.

Many of the incidents involved PKK followers violating demonstration and assembly laws, the report said. The PKK has more than 14,000 followers in Germany, and raised more than 13 million euros in 2015, according to reports by the German domestic intelligence agency, the BfV.