All three were accused by the court of aiding Islamic preacher Fetuhallah Gulen, whom the authorities consider a terrorist number one and accused of attempting a coup in July 2016, which failed. In the dock were the former editor-in-chief of the now closed newspaper Taraf Ahmet Altan, his brother - professor of economics and writer Mehmet Altan, as well as well-known journalist Nazli Iliachak.
All of them were found guilty without the right to appeal.
The human rights organization Reporters Without Borders has already promised to sue the state in international courts for the release of prisoners. Turkish media promised to organize a wave of strikes and protests, demanding that Erdogan stop persecution and repression of journalists.
As reported in "Ura-Inform," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently spoke about the critical state of relations with the United States.