N. Barzani calls for a Federal Democratic Parliamentary State in Iraq.

Turkey's highest court declined to overturn a controversial law that critics contend could lead to government media censorship on Turkish Web sites.

After fiery protests -- including opposition from the European Union -- the court on Wednesday suspended parts of the same broadcasting law that would have let individuals own larger chunks of Turkey's news media, a move critics feared would drive small newspapers and television and radio stations out of business.

When parliament passed it a second time last month -- overriding a presidential veto -- there were furious scenes, as opposition and government lawmakers nearly came to blows.

Many Turkish Web sites blacked out their home pages in protest.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer referred the law to the Constitutional Court last month, hoping it would be overturned. He said it would curb freedom of expression and open the way to media monopolies.

Criticism from the European Union, which Turkey wants to join, put added pressure on the court.

The court voted to suspend implementation of some clauses of the law, while it decides whether to annul those and other parts of the law. It could take as long as a year to announce a final decision.

Among the articles the court suspended was a clause that would have permitted more consolidation by Turkey's biggest media conglomerates. Four media groups control 80 percent of the country's newspaper circulation and television and also own banks, construction companies and mobile telephone companies.

Opposition parties had charged that this measure, together with others allowing media owners to bid for state contracts, was an attempt by the government to buy the support of powerful media bosses.

Previously, there were some restrictions on media groups bidding for lucrative government contracts.

The court did not suspend sections of the law that could extend tight controls that are already applied to traditional media to Web sites.

Turkey's broadcasting watchdog regularly hands out fines or temporary closures for broadcasts that offend the military, question Turkey's treatment of its Kurdish minority or its strict secular policies, or offend traditional values.

Information technology groups have expressed fears that the law will allow broadcasting authorities to take similar action against Web sites -- stunting the growth of the Internet in Turkey.
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