Turkish Journalist Interpreting Serzh Sargsyan's Statement Found Not Guilty

Baris Yarkadas, Chief Editor of Gercekgundem.com website, has been found not guilty, reports Turkish news agency Ankara.

Yarkadas was accused of publicizing criticism about President Abdullah Gul.

Particularly, the website had published a statement of Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan in which he said that he would visit Turkey “as soon as we have an open border or the lifting of Armenia’s blockade would be close.”

A comment calling Sargsyan’s statement a challenge to Turkey and criticizing Gul for his policy had also been published below the article.

The person writing the comment has not been identified yet.

Turkish presidential administration had turned to the Justice Minister after the publication. Later a complaint had been filed that accused Yarkadas of “insulting the president.”

Yarkadas could be sentenced to 5.4 years if found guilty.