The  U.S. State Department voiced concern about the verdicts and called on Turkish authorities to "support an independent and unfettered media, which is an essential element of any democratic, open society.

Spokesperson for State Department John Kirby mentioned that the US is concerned by the verdict of the court in the trial of editor-in-chief of the Hürriyet newspaper Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, the newspaper's Ankara bureau chief.

He emphasized that the US supports freedom of expression and urges the Turkish authorities to support an independent and unfettered media, which is an essential element of any democratic, open society.

Kirby stated that they again insistently urge Turkey to observe the obligations which follow from its own constitution and OSCE agreements and relate to the basic principles of democracy, including a fair trial, an independent judiciary and freedom of expression, TASS reported.

Earlier, the Istanbul court sentenced Hürriyet journalists to imprisonment for disclosure of state secret. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper was given five years and ten months, and his colleague was sentenced to five years. The final decision on their case will be in the Supreme Court. Now journalists are released without recognizance not to leave.