The European Union has again warned Turkey over freedom of speech provisions in its penal code, after Turkey's high court upheld the conviction of a journalist accused of insulting the country's national identity.
The warning came Wednesday from EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, one day after the high court confirmed a six-month jail term for an Armenian-Turkish journalist.
The journalist, Hrant Dink, was convicted last year of attempting to influence the judiciary, after his bilingual newspaper ran stories criticizing a law making it a crime to insult "Turkishness."
The EU has frequently warned Turkey that its efforts to join the 25-nation trading bloc could be hampered by the law, which sets penalties for insulting the republic or its officials.
Rehn said the EU will review the situation later this year in a progress report on Turkey's accession talks.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.