Turkish Court Convicts Journalist

[Press]

Turkish Court Convicts Journalist 

Thursday, March 5, 1998; 7:47 p.m. EST

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- A court sentenced a journalist of a
pro-Islamic newspaper to nearly two years in prison Thursday for an
article criticizing Turkey's warming relations with Israel.

The court ruled Aydin Koral's piece in the small newspaper, Selam, was
a threat to national security. The judge also ordered the paper to
shut down for two weeks.

Growing ties between Turkey and Israel, underscored during a joint
naval exercise with the United States in January, drew criticism from
the Arab world.

Koral's article said such ties could lead to danger, the Anatolia news
agency reported.

Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court -- urged by of the
staunchly secular military -- disbanded the Islamic Welfare Party and
temporarily banned some of its leaders from politics.

Several pro-Kurdish or leftist journalists have also been locked up.

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