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Turkish court quashes journalist’s prison sentence

Ayla Albayrak won an appeal against a 2017 terror conviction for reporting on the Kurdish insurgency for the Wall Street Journal, but she doubts the court was motivated by concern for press freedom.
People hold placards prepared by Reporters Without Borders as they attend a demonstration organised for journalists detained in Turkey in front of the Berlin's main railway station, during the visit of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Berlin, Germany, September 28, 2018.  REUTERS/Christian Mang - RC1CDC76C5D0

ISTANBUL — A Turkish court has overturned a conviction against a former Wall Street Journal reporter in a rare victory for the country’s beleaguered press, boosting hopes the government would relax its clampdown on the media as it seeks to repair relations with Western allies.

Journalist Ayla Albayrak won her appeal on Tuesday against a verdict handed down last year that she had disseminated terrorist propaganda by writing a story about clashes between the military and Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey in 2015. She faced two years and one month in prison, but was free pending the appeal.

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