Turkish envoy summoned over jail of journo

The foreign ministry on Thursday summoned Turkish Ambassador to Helsinki Adnan Başağa and protested the jail sentence given to a journalist in absentia.

Earlier, on Wednesday, a Turkish court awarded two-year imprisonment to a Finnish-Turkish journalist Ayla Albayrak in absentia, reported the local media.

Albayrak was convicted and sentenced in absentia for producing terrorist propaganda and supporting Kurdish separatists by the court after writing a story about the Turkish government’s conflict with the Kurds in 2015, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

Albayrak, who is now in New York, is a writer for the US publication The Wall Street Journal.

Foreign Minister Soini on Wednesday told the news agency STT that Turkey’s stance on freedom of the press and speech is taking on disturbing features, said the Yle report, adding that Soini said he conveyed his concerns to the Turkish authorities.