Istanbul - One of Turkey's leading journalists and political commentators said yesterday he had been sacked after press reports that a captured Kurdish rebel commander had accused him of links to separatist guerrillas.
Liberal journalist Mehmet Ali Birand said management at the mass-circulation Sabah daily told him they would no longer print his daily column. Birand, who also presents a respected current affairs television programme, is the Turkish journalist best known abroad. He denies the accusations.