A Turkish court rejected a prosecutor's life sentence appeal for a man accused of murdering his wife in the western city of İzmir.

Kemal Balaban was facing charges of homicide for stabbing his wife to death in 2014. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to life in prison.

At a hearing yesterday, Balaban said he did not intend to kill his wife of 24 years and the knife in his hand "accidentally" pierced her stomach during a heated argument in their home. He claimed his wife had mental health issues and he was trying to calm her down when the knife entered her. He denied charges of murder and pointed out that he would not have taken her to the hospital if he had wanted to kill her.

The court ruled that the defendant was "provoked" by the victim and reduced the sentence to 10 years on charges of involuntary manslaughter.