The European Human Rights Court yesterday condemned Turkey for violating freedom of expression by sentencing a young female journalist who questioned its military operations against the Kurds.
The panel awarded €6,100 (£4,750) in damages and costs to Ms Pelin Sener (31), now living in Cologne in Germany.
In 1993, Ms Sener published an article accusing Turkey of fighting a "dirty war" - including the use of chemical weapons - against the Kurds in the south-east of the country, and said troops were guilty of "the extermination of a nation".
The article, published in her newsletter, Haberde Yorumda Gercek (Notes and Comments: the Truth), underlined the "need to resolve the Kurdish problem by peaceful means".
A court in Istanbul later found her guilty of "propaganda against the unity of the state", and handed her a suspended sentence.
The European Court in Strasbourg, however, found the article in question merely called for an end to the armed conflict, and the panel complained Turkey had failed to allow its public to remain fully informed on the Kurdish conflict. The court also said Ms Sener's trial in Turkey was unfair, given the presence of a military judge.