Turkey?s court of appeals yesterday upheld a jail sentence of nearly 19 years for the teenage killer of an Italian Catholic priest, the state Anatolian news agency said. The shooting of Father Andrea Santoro, 61, while praying in his church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon in February 2006 shocked the Muslim nation and drew calls from the European Union for greater religious tolerance in Turkey. A year ago, a Trabzon court found the boy guilty of premeditated murder, illegal possession of a firearm and endangering public security. His family appealed against the jail sentence. The Ankara appeals court confirmed the sentence of 18 years and 10 months on the boy, who as a minor has not been named. Witnesses say the boy, then aged 16, shouted ?Allahu Akbar? (?God is greatest?) before shooting the priest dead. Turkey?s government, which has Islamist roots, strongly condemned the shooting, which coincided with increased religious tensions worldwide after the publication of cartoons lampooning Islam?s Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers.