Turkish Medical Association chief convicted of terror charge

By MEHMET GUZEL and SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

ISTANBUL (AP) — A court in Istanbul has convicted the president of the Turkish Medical Association of disseminating “terror organization propaganda” following a trial that human rights groups had denounced as an attempt to silence government critics. The court sentenced Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci on Wednesday to nearly three years in prison but also ruled to release her from pre-trial detention while she appeals the verdict. Fincanci was arrested in October and charged with engaging in propaganda on behalf of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The arrest followed a media interview in which she called for an independent investigation into allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.