US vows to keep following journalists' trial despite outrage from Ankara

U.S. representatives will continue to monitor judicial proceedings like the controversial trial of daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül despite harsh criticisms from Ankara, U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby has said.

Kirby said it was "completely in keeping with standard diplomatic practice" for U.S. representatives to attend the trial on March 25 in order to report on developments in their host country. 

"This was not the first time, but it darn sure won't be the last time that we observer these kinds of judicial proceedings," he told reporters in a daily press briefing on March 28. 

Kirby also criticized the court's decision to grant a request from the prosecution for the trial to be held behind closed doors due to "national security" concerns, describing the decision as "regrettable."

"We regret that this case is now being tried in private without the public or media or diplomatic access," he said, reiterating previous calls upon Turkey to abide by "the fundamental principles of democracy, including due process, judicial independence, and freedom of expression" enshrined in its constitution. 

The Italian Foreign Ministry also released an official statement regarding its diplomats' visit to the trial after Turkey sent a diplomatic note to the related country representatives. It stressed that the Italian Consul General in Istanbul acted in line with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic and consular relations when attending the hearing. 

"The Italian Consul General in Istanbul, Federica Ferrari Bravo, behaved in full compliance with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic and consular relations," the ministry's statement said.

"Freedom of expression is of...