The court in Izmir handed Mehmet Sirac Keskin six life sentences for the July 2005 bombing in the Aegean resort of Kusadasi -- one for each of his victims and a sixth for separatist activists, the agency said.

A British and Irish tourist were among those killed in the July 2005 attack. The bombing injured 13 other people, including five Britons, as they were being taken to a beach.

Keskin had denied carrying out the attack, but admitted to the court being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, has waged a bloody insurgency for Kurdish independence since 1984 which has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Keskin chanted PKK slogans as the verdict against him was announced while families of the victims wept in the courtroom, Anatolia said.