ANKARA (AFP) - Turkish media groups accused the government yesterday of backtracking on pledges for more democracy, urging the abolition of draft amendments in an anti-terror law that critics say could land many journalists in jail. “The government has used up the credit for its achievements in democratization as part of the European Union (candidacy) process,” said a joint statement by 12 press associations and unions on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. “The government must give up plans for archaic legal arrangements that backtrack on progress achieved over the past few years regarding freedom of press and expression,” it said.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - The appeals chamber of the UN war crimes tribunal yesterday upheld sentences of up to 20 years in prison for two Bosnian-Croat warlords for atrocities committed against Muslims during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war. Mladen Naletilic, also known as Tuta, and Vinko Martinovic, with the nom-de-guerre Stela, appealed to have their respective sentences of 20 and 18 years in prison reduced. Although some of the grounds of appeal were allowed, their sentences were maintained. “Taking into account the particular circumstances of this case as well as the form and degree of the participation of the accused in the crimes affirmed on appeal, as well as the seriousness of those crimes, the appeals chamber found that the sentences imposed by the trial chamber against them were within the range that a reasonable trial chamber could have ordered,” the court said.

Turkey warned France yesterday that bilateral ties could suffer if the French Parliament adopts a bill that would criminalize any denial that Armenians massacred during World War I were victims of genocide. “In our meetings (with French officials), we stress that adoption of the bill could lead to irreparable damage in longstanding Turkish-French ties and that this should not be allowed,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a press conference here. Tan said Ankara is doing everything it can to block the bill, adding that the French government is doing the same. The bill, expected to be voted on later this month, provides for one year’s imprisonment and a 45,000-euro fine for denying that Armenians were victims of genocide, according to Turkish press reports. (AFP)

Dozens of dead dolphins have been found on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coastline, authorities said yesterday. Twenty-nine dead dolphins were spotted Tuesday and yesterday near the town of Shabla, 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of the capital, Sofia. Another 26 corpses were found 10 days ago in the same area. (AP)