"The court finds it has been proven that T (used in the court documents to refer to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK) was a terrorist organisation," the ruling said.

The Copenhagen court said the station "supported the organisation's activities" from February 2008 to September 2010.

The ruling was based on a series of programmes aired by Roj TV that "relayed in a biased and uncritical manner the (PKK's) messages, including incitement to uprisings and to join the organisation", according to the court documents.

Danish authorities first filed charges against Roj TV in 2010 after a five-year probe into its broadcasts, alleging it supported the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The trial opened last August. The two companies behind the broadcaster, which airs in 68 countries, were each sentenced to fines totalling 5.2 million kroner (700,000 euros, $895,000).

Defence attorney Bjoern Elmquist described it as a "bad" ruling, but said it would be up to the broadcaster if it wanted to appeal. He did however hail the court for not following the prosecution's call to withdraw Roj TV's licence.

"It would have been shameful if they had encroached on freedom of expression and press freedom just because the Turks and the Americans want them to," Elmquist told public broadcaster DR.

The PKK took up arms in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

Turkish ambassador Ahmet Berki Dibek said the ruling did not go far enough.

"The PKK will probably pay the fines," he told reporters as he left the courthouse, calling for the prosecution to appeal and try again to have Roj TV's licence revoked.

Turkey's foreign ministry hailed the court for exposing what it said were links between the media and the PKK, adding: "It is undeniable that this ruling will create a precedent in the global fight against terrorism."

However the ministry lamented an "incomplete ruling," saying the station's broadcasting licence should be withdrawn.