Month: September 2006

Controversial EP Report on Turkey Faces Voting Next Week
By Cihan News Agency

Zaman, Turkey
Sept 22 2006

Friday, September 22, 2006
zaman.com

The controversial report on Turkey prepared by Dutch rapporteur Camiel
Eurlings will be discussed and voted on in the European Parliament
(EP) General Assembly next week.

The draft report on Turkey’s progress towards accession to the EU and
the reforms is to be discussed in the European parliament on Tuesday.

The provision, making the recognition of so-called Armenian, Pontus
Greek and Syriac genocides a precondition for Turkey’s EU membership,
is expected to be removed from the draft with motions. Certain
amendments are also expected to be made on the Cyprus issue in favor
of Turkey, a diplomatic source said.

The report will be discussed on Tuesday afternoon and the European
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn will attend the meeting. The
voting of the report is to take place on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the EP Foreign Affairs Committee approved Camiel
Eurlings’ report on Turkey. The report called on Turkey to recognize
the alleged killing of Armenians during WWI as genocide and to open
its ports to Greek Cypriot traffic.

The Turkish foreign ministry rejected the report, saying that it
lacked common sense and smacked of political bias.

The draft report insists that there are persistent shortcomings in
areas such as freedom of expression, religious, minority and women’s
rights in Turkey.

Spiegel Online, Germany
Sept 22 2006

Turkish Intellectuals Between Democracy and Nationalism
By Dilek Zaptcioglu in Istanbul

Turkish novelist Elif Shafak was taken to court on charges of
"insulting Turkishness." It’s a part of the Turkish penal code often
used to go after intellectuals. But do the country’s politicians have
the courage to change it?

AP
Turkish author Elif Shafak is just one of many intellectuals in
Turkey who have run afoul of Section 301.
It’s a scenario familiar to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Apply the criminal code to the work of a novelist, and
massive protests from the European Union about the freedom of opinion
in Turkey ensue. Indeed, Erdogan has been taking those protests to
heart and has recently been trying to change the Turkish penal code’s
notorious section 301. In comments delivered on Thursday, Erdogan
promised that the section will be deleted should a consensus be
reached in parliament.

Such a consensus is not yet in sight. Novelist Elif Shafak was taken
to court on charges of "insulting Turkishness" this week — and
acquitted for lack of evidence. So far, the most well-known victim of
section 301 has been the editor-in-chief of the Armenian weekly Agos,
Hrant Dink, who will be sentenced to six months in prison if he
"re-offends."

Section 301 of Turkey’s penal code makes "insulting Turkishness, the
Republic or the National Assembly" punishable by a prison sentence of
between six months and three years. The sentence increases threefold
when the offense is committed abroad. The EU has been demanding the
abolition of section 301 for months. Since the law went into effect
about one year ago, it has been used to press charges against at
least 82 writers, publishers, journalists and intellectuals. During
the past 15 months, numerous periodicals and books have been
confiscated, and Internet sites have been shut down, according to the
most recent report by Turkey’s Human Rights Foundation (TIHV). A
total of 15 people have been sentenced under the law. It is widely
expected that this year the European Union Commission will use its
annual progress report on Turkey’s fitness for EU membership — due
out in mid-October — as an opportunity to demand a re-drafting of
section 301.

But doing so would require a major transformation within Turkey, and
that transformation has yet to occur. Danish Amnesty International
member Elna Leth Pedersen, who monitored Shafak’s trial, believes a
"change of mentality" is needed. It won’t do for the section to be
scrapped and replaced by another, she believes.

"Many countries — including EU countries — have similar laws," says
Joost Lagendijk, a member of the European Parliament, speaking in
Istanbul on the day of Shafak’s trial. "But these laws never lead to
writers or journalists being arrested," Lagendijk adds.

Eugene Schoulgin, a representative of the PEN Club, the international
writers association, has called Shafak’s trial a "scandal" and
pointed out that hers is not the only case his organization is
keeping a watchful eye on. "There are genuine human rights violations
occurring in various countries, from EU member states to Australia,"
says Schoulgin, a Norwegian who now lives in Istanbul. He adds that
the rising number of trials in Turkey is to do with the country’s
"giant steps towards democracy," which he says are prompting strong
nationalist reactions "in certain circles."

A Nationalist Backlash

In fact, the lawyers who always appear as joint plaintiffs in section
301 trials are genuinely reactionary. They are members of the
far-right lawyers association "Hukukcular Birligi." Led by Istanbul
lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, they are often the ones who press charges
against authors. In their eyes, sensitive topics include the massacre
committed against Armenians in 1915, the Kurdish question, the role
of the military in Turkey — and recent Turkish history in general.

For the past several years, Turkey has been undergoing a rapid
cultural transformation. Thanks to the country’s bid for EU
membership, Turkey’s past and present is being discussed more openly
and controversially than ever before. But this also entails a growing
rift between reformist forces and the rest of society. Many feel the
reforms are happening too quickly and going too far.

Formally left-wing and now liberal-minded intellectuals such as Murat
Belge, a professor of English literature, are speeding the EU reform
process in the area of culture. Today these intellectuals are no
longer as marginalized as they were 10 or 20 years ago, when they
found themselves unemployed because of their views or were struggling
to survive in small publishing houses. Now they hold teaching
positions at Istanbul’s many private universities, where they are
using their connections to organize conferences on the Armenian and
Turkish questions.

Official Turkish historiography is the main target of the criticisms
repeatedly formulated at these conferences. According to Belge,
official Turkish historiography has "achieved nothing so far besides
denying the Armenian and the Kurdish questions and falsifying
historical truths for extremely nationalist reasons." Turkey’s
liberal intellectuals make up a kind of "closed society" entertaining
close contacts to the West; their activities are often financed with
Western funds.

The result is that Turkish nationalists have a bone to pick. They’re
using section 301 as a weapon and they want to use the charges of
"insulting Turkishness" and "damaging Turkey’s reputation abroad" to
expose the activities of intellectuals and writers to the public. The
goal pursued by Turkish nationalists isn’t necessarily that of
getting writers into prison. Rather, it’s to make these writers look
like dangerous enemies of society to those Turks who haven’t read
their books.

The strategy is working. Most Turks view Kerincsiz and his right-wing
lawyers as slightly overzealous champions of a just cause. Widespread
popular support for the extreme nationalists and their struggles
against the "enemies of the people" is even pushing the social
democrat opposition in the Turkish parliament to argue against the
abolition of section 301.

Elections will be held in Turkey in the fall of 2007. Even Prime
Minister Erdogan will likely lack the courage to fully liberalize the
Turkish penal code. Right now Erdogan is smugly playing the role of
the democrat whose hands are tied. All he did on the eve of Shafak’s
trial was wish her the best of luck.

,1518, 438674,00.html

ARMENIAN CB, GOVERNMENT NOT READY TO USE PRIVATE MONEY TRANSFERS

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Sept 22 2006

YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Armenian Central Bank and government
are not ready to use private money transfers, Armen Darbinyan,
Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) State University Rector and former prime
minister, said Thursday in an interview with Kentron TV channel.

In his words, there are no state instruments in the country for
using transfers.

He said about $1.5 billion comes to Armenia mainly from Russia through
private transfers. In his opinion, the country’s economy would collapse
without these transfers.

Airing his opinion on television, he said that on one hand, economy
must be developed to bar people from leaving their homeland and
seeking jobs in other countries. On the other hand, such a situation
has already created and mechanisms are needed for invest these dollars
into particular programs for earning profit but without affecting
the country’s currency market.

Darbinyan thinks Armenian should use experience of Russia, who sends
the money received from oil sales to Investment and Stabilization
Funds.

Central Bank of Armenia says money inflow in Armenia through transfers
grows 37% each year between 2003 and 2005. They make 15% of GDP. Some
$940 million was received in 2005. Of them, $750mln has come to
Armenia through banking system.

CBA says the money received by individuals over seven months of 2006
totals $456.9mln. This amount is 24.4% greater than that of the same
period a year earlier. The CBA says $334.4mln was sent from Russia.
M.V.-0—

Spiegel Online, Germany
Sept 22 2006

Positive Signs from Turkey?

Turkish author Elif Shafak was acquitted on Thursday by an Istanbul
court on charges of "insulting Turkishness." A good move given that a
progress report on Turkey’s readiness to join the EU is due out soon.

AP
Turkish author Elif Shafak was acquitted on charges of "insulting
Turkishness" on Thursday.
The charge is not one you’d see in most European Union countries:
"Insulting Turkishness," it is called. But that’s what Turkish
novelist Elif Shafak, one of the EU aspirant’s most popular writers,
had been charged with. On Thursday, though, an Istanbul court
acquitted Shafak following a one-and-a-half hour session, concluding
that she had committed no crime.

The case had drawn a lot of attention from the EU and has highlighted
Turkey’s difficult road to membership. The 25-member club, which
appears set to accept Romania and Bulgaria in January, has repeatedly
criticized elements of Turkish law such as the one that provided the
basis for the charges against Shafek. A report on Turkey’s progress
toward joining the EU will be presented in mid-October.

While Turkish nationalists protesting outside the court building had
to be contained by riot police after the verdict was announced, many
in Turkey have expressed relief over the verdict. "We want a country
where people are not interrogated because of their novels," said Muge
Sokmen, Shafak’s publisher, according to the Associated Press. The AP
also quotes Shafak’s husband Eyup Can as saying that the trial is "a
shame not just for her but for Turkey."

Even if the trial did not receive much coverage in the German press,
the verdict had a few of Friday’s commentators heading for their
keyboards. An editorial in the center-left daily Berliner Zeitung
notes with satisfaction that "the court in Istanbul needed only a few
minutes to acquit the Turkish writer Elif Shafak," stressing that the
trial was "absurd" in so far as the accusations were not based on
statements made by Shafak "in essays or on discussion panels," but
rather on words uttered by the protagonist in her new novel. "It’s a
good sign that the court reached a decision so quickly," the
commentator notes. She immediately adds, however, that Turkey
shouldn’t get too smug: What is ultimately needed is for the Turkish
government to eliminate the law that made the trial possible in the
first place. The law in question, paragraph 301 of the Turkish penal
code, has a history of being used to silence debate over "Turkey’s
attempted extermination of the Armenians" during the years before the
First World War, the commentator points out. Such legally sanctioned
censorship is incompatible with EU membership. "The European Union
has rightly demanded changes to the Turkish penal code," the piece
concludes.

The trial against Shafak comes at a time when many Westerners are
convinced that predominantly Muslim countries are bastions of
religious fanaticism and intolerance. Notwithstanding the recurring
calls for a "dialogue with Islam," many seem already to have made up
their minds that such a dialogue cannot be conducted in a fruitful
way. This, in any case, is the position of a commentary in Friday’s
center-right daily Die Welt– one that takes a look back at the
Muslim outrage over the comments on Islam made by Pope Benedict XVI
last weekend. The much-invoked "dialogue with Islam," the paper
writes, is nothing but a "farce." The paper claims that the words "We
need to show more respect for Islam" have become a catchphrase in the
West and that this formula is always used when "criticism of Islam
triggers Islam’s violent reflexes." The "feelings" of Muslims — the
commentator himself places the word in quotation marks — are
"nothing but a modern form of religious dictatorship," the piece
argues. Islam is compared by the commentator to medieval
Christianity. "Just as, during the Christian Middle Ages, only church
members were considered human, orthodox Islam considers no one human
but those who are Muslim," the paper says. The commentator then
claims that "strongly religious Muslims" are in fact nothing but
"mental clones" and victims of "indoctrination." After waxing
eloquent on Islam’s "problematic history" and accusing Muslims of
"refusing to confront it," he concludes that "we can expect a
renaissance of religious dictatorship in which every so-called
prejudice and every putative lack of respect is responded to with
threats and attacks."

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for Spiegel Online’s daily newsletter and get the best of Der
Spiegel’s and Spiegel Online’s international coverage in your In- Box
everyday.

Left-wing daily Die Tageszeitung warns against precisely this kind of
rhetoric and makes a plea against painting all Muslims with the same
broad brush. After all, even if there has been a resurgence of faith
in the Muslim world since September 11, 2001, they’re not all
fundamentalist, the paper writes. "The majority of … Muslims have
not discovered a blueprint for bombs in the Koran," the commentator
writes, "but rather a manual on how to lead a better life." Many
young Muslims have found ways of reconciling their religion with
Western popular culture. Instead of treating "reborn Muslims" as if
they were all bigots and potential terrorists, Europeans need to
understand that "the struggle is not one between religious faith and
the tradition of the Western Enlightenment, but one between
terrorists and their enemies."

— Max Henninger, 12:30 p.m., CET

——————————————- ————————————-

Hungarian Unrest Raises Questions About The EU’s Future

An estimated 10,000 people gathered outside the Hungarian parliament
on Thursday in what became the fifth consecutive night of protests
prompted by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany’s admission that he had
lied to voters about the catastrophic state of the Hungarian economy.
The protests followed the example of those on Wednesday night by
being largely peaceful. The chaos and street battles witnessed in
Budapest earlier in the week appear to have died down for good.

But aside from the civil unrest it has prompted in Hungary,
Gyurcsany’s admission that he "lied morning, evening and night" also
raises questions about the pressures that European Union membership
entails for new member states from Eastern Europe. Hungary was one of
10 states to join the EU on May 1, 2004 — two more Eastern European
countries, Bulgaria and Romania, look set to join the club in a
little over three months. A number of commentators are scratching
their heads about Europe’s future as a result.

"Budapest is burning," the center-left daily Suddeutsche Zeitung
observes, adding that "these flames are not just a symbol of public
outrage — the unrest also shows that the road ahead for the EU’s
prospective member states is more painful than expected." In other
words, similar scenes are to be expected in Bulgaria and Romania:
"The expansion of the EU will lead to further crises. That’s why it
would be a good idea not to force the entry of Bulgaria and Romania
into the EU," the paper says. In the 1990s, the paper recalls, the
idea was that new members would reform themselves under EU
supervision — "a risky game," the commentator insists. A tough love
approach might be better. Indeed, the paper calls for "applying
especially strict standards to Bulgaria and Romania," forcing them to
battle their problems of "corruption and organized crime" by
"tightening the thumbscrews." Such a policy may seem harsh, and
"Bulgarians and Rumanians may find it unfair," but the EU has "no
other choice," the paper concludes.

— Max Henninger, 14:10 p.m., CET
From: Baghdasarian

UA asst. professor acquitted of insulting Turks

The Associated Press

Tucson Citizen, AZ
Sept 22 2006

ISTANBUL, Turkey – A University of Arizona assistant professor who is
one of Turkey’s leading authors was acquitted Thursday of "insulting
Turkishness" in a novel that touched on the mass killings of Armenians
during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

The panel of judges said there was no evidence to support the charge
against Elif Shafak, who gave birth Saturday and did not attend
her trial.

Shafak, who is on a one-year leave from her teaching post in UA’s
department of Near Eastern studies, expressed satisfaction with the
verdict and called for greater freedoms and tolerance.

"You would counter writing with writing, not with a gun," Shafak
told private NTV television about protests and scuffles that took
place outside the courtroom after the verdict was read. "Insulting
Turkishness? According to whom? Who determines it?"

Shafak said the law on insulting Turkishness "has been used as a
weapon to silence many people. . . . My case is perhaps just another
step in this long chain."

Shafak’s publisher said her acquittal was a relief and that there
should be more tolerance in Turkey.

"We want a country where people are not interrogated because of
their novels," said Muge Sokmen, Shafak’s publisher. "As the public,
we need to be more tolerant to the thoughts of others."

Shafak was charged over the words uttered by fictional Armenian
characters in her novel "The Bastard of Istanbul." In the book,
an Armenian character refers to "Turkish butchers."

Turkey’s mass expulsion of Armenians during World War I, which
Armenians say was part of a genocide that claimed 1.5 million lives,
is a dark chapter rarely discussed in Turkey or taught in its schools.

The court, which opened Shafak’s trial earlier Thursday, concluded in
an hour-plus session that there was insufficient evidence to suggest
that she committed a crime.

She could have faced three years in prison.

The European Union has warned Turkey that putting writers and
journalists on trial for their speech could hamper its efforts to
join the bloc.

Riot police contained angry nationalist protesters who briefly scuffled
with another group outside the court room after the ruling.

A small group of nationalist lawyers outside the courthouse burned
a picture of Shafak in protest.

Some protesters held a European Union flag adorned with a Nazi swastika
in the middle and a slogan that read: "EU fascism."

The protesters were also holding several Turkish flags.

Her book was released in Turkey on March 8 and has sold more than
50,000 copies.

A Turkish court dropped charges last year against Orhan Pamuk, one
of the country’s most famous novelists, who faced trial on charges
of insulting Turkishness for commenting on the killings of Armenians.

The charges were dropped for technical reasons amid intense
international pressure.

A high court recently confirmed a six-month prison sentence imposed on
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink for attempting to influence the
judiciary after his newspaper ran articles criticizing the law that
makes it a crime to insult Turkishness. Dink’s sentence was suspended.

Turkey report stays on EU agenda

EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Sept 22 2006

The MEP at the centre of a row over Turkish EU has expressed his
pleasure that his report will be voted on in European parliament
next week.

Socialist MEPs had attempted to head off a controversial parliament
report by Camiel Eurlings that criticizes Turkey for inaction in
implementing reforms.

"I am happy that the report will be discussed as scheduled next week,"
the centre-right Dutch deputy told this website.

"It is important that the report is voted on in parliament before the
commission’s report is published on November 8. I am pleased it will
be discussed in Strasbourg in the presence of commissioner Olli Rehn."

Socialist MEPs said the Eurlings report is "unbalanced and biased" and
attempted to use a Thursday meeting of political group and committee
leaders to press for the delay.

Concern among centre-left MEPs – the parliament’s second biggest bloc –
focuses on Eurlings’ demands that Ankara must recognise the Armenian
genocide as a precondition for EU entry.

But despite their fears, the Eurlings report is now formally on the
agenda at next week’s Strasbourg plenary.

Heated discussion is expected during debate on Tuesday – ahead of a
Wednesday vote on the report.

TREND, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2006

Armenian Foreign Minister will leave for Berlin to participate in the
international forum

Source: "Trend"
Author: À.Mammadov

22.09.2006

(A1plus.am) – Today RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will leave
for Berlin to participate in the international forum "Bertelsmann".

Minister Oskanyan will leave Berlin for New York in order to
participate in the session of the UN 61st Assembly General. On
September 25 the Foreign Minister will make a speech, reports Trend.

In New York Minister Oskanyan will meet a number of officials, as
well as the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs.

Oskanyan will return to Armenia on September 27.

–Boundary_(ID_01fch0zvMbygaYQkh1joDg)–

Railway in Armenia: The Railway will not bypass Armenia

Railway Market Magazine, Poland
Sept 22 2006

The Armenian Assembly today praised a key Senate committee for
affirming U.S policy in the South Caucasus by prohibiting funding
for a bypass rail link sponsored by the Turkish and Azerbaijani
governments and aimed at excluding Armenia from economic and regional
transportation opportunities.

"Armenia is a valued friend of the United States and our government
ought not to be supporting programs or initiatives in the South
Caucasus that exclude that country from participation," said
Santorum. "The manager’s amendment adopted today by the Committee on
Banking will make sure such a scenario does not happen."

"We cannot continue to stoke the embers of regional conflict by
supporting projects that deliberately exclude one of the region’s most
important members," said Menendez. "Fundamentally, this amendment is
about fairness and about inclusion, rather than exclusion. With this
amendment, we are sending a simple message that we believe that the
United States should support an integrated and inclusive approach to
economic and regional development in the Caucasus region."

ANCA WELCOMES KEY SENATE PANEL ADOPTION OF MENENDEZ AMENDMENT TO
BLOCK U.S. SUBSIDY FOR ARMENIA RAILROAD BYPASS

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Sept 22 2006

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) [Ho. He.
Dashnaktsutyan Washington-ee Hai Tahd-ee Krasenyag] today welcomed
the vote by a powerful Senate panel to block U.S. taxpayer funding
for an unnecessary and costly proposed railroad between Turkey and
Georgia that would, if built, circumvent Armenia and, in the process,
undermine the economic viability of the existing Caucasus railroad
route through Armenia.

According to the information DE FACTO got at the ANCA, with a
unanimous voice vote earlier today, the Senate Banking Committee
adopted the amendment spearheaded by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
and later adopted as proposed by Committee Chairman Richard Shelby
(R-AL) and Ranking Democrat Paul Sarbanes (D-MD). According to the
measure, the Export-Import Bank "shall not guarantee, insure or extend
(or participate in the extension of) credit in connection with the
export of any good or service relating to the development or promotion
of any railway connection or railway-related connection that does
not traverse or connect with Armenia, and does traverse or connect
Baku, Azerbaijan, Tbilisi, Georgia and Kars, Turkey." The provision
is now part of the Senate Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Bill,
also adopted unanimously by the Committee, paving the way for full
Senate consideration of the legislation.

"We would like to thank Senator Menendez, Chairman Shelby, Senator
Sarbanes, and all members of the Senate Banking Committee for ensuring
that U.S. taxpayer funds are not wasted in the construction of an
ill-advised railway project, initiated by Turkey and Azerbaijan, solely
to exclude Armenia," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

"With this amendment, we are sending a simple message – that we believe
that the United States should support an integrated and inclusive
approach to economic and regional development in the Caucuses region,"
explained Sen. Menendez. "There is already a railway, which connects
these countries and passes through Armenia, which could be used to
build a Trans-Caucasus railroad. Why would we spend additional funds
to build a new railroad link that goes around Armenia?"

Sen. Menendez also stressed that the proposed railway goes counter to
U.S. policy in the Caucasus region. In response to Senators during
her confirmation hearing, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse
noted that "because the proposed railway would bypass Armenia, and
thus not be beneficial to regional integration, we have no plans to
support such a railway financially."

The Menendez amendment is based on the South Caucasus Integration
and Open Railroads Act of 2006 (S. 2461), introduced by Senator Rick
Santorum (R-PA) and cosponsored by Senators Menendez, Sarbanes and
Wayne Allard (R-CO). The House version (H.R.3361), introduced by Rep.

Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), currently has over 85 cosponsors. Both
measures stress that U.S. policy should oppose the "The exclusion of
Armenia from regional economic and commercial undertakings in the South
Caucasus," noting that such actions "undermine the United States policy
goal of promoting a stable and cooperative environment in the region."

In June, a similar amendment to the House version of the Export-Import
Bank Reauthorization Bill was led by Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY), with
the support of Financial Services Committee colleagues, Representatives
Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Ed Royce (R- CA).

The House adopted the measure in July.

Following Senate committee passage of the measure, Rep. Crowley noted,
"With this amendment, the US Congress is telling the governments of
Turkey and Azerbaijan that it is wrong to continue their Cold War
style campaign against Armenia and hurt its economic growth. Their
actions against Armenia will meet with real consequences, and we
are taking note of this inexcusable behavior. By excluding Armenia
in these regional projects, Turkey and Azerbaijan are putting the
finishing touches on a 10-year-old economic blockade against this
republic that has made great progress in implementing democratic and
economic reforms."

In the days leading up to the vote, ANCA chapters and activists in key
states contacted members of the Senate Banking Committee in support
of the Armenia railway provision.

The proposed new Caucasus rail line – at the urging of Turkey and
Azerbaijan – would circumvent Armenia. Promoters of the project
have sought, even at the planning stages, to secure U.S. financing
for this undertaking, prompting Congressional friends of Armenia to
preemptively block such attempts.

In October of 2005, the European Commission voiced official opposition
to the proposed Caucasus railroad bypass of Armenia. A formal statement
by the Commission’s Directorate General for Transport and Energy
noted that its construction was both unnecessary and inefficient in
light of the existing railroad connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the
official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank’s
mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services
to international markets.

Zaman, Turkey
Sept 22 2006

Shafak Acquitted, but Article 301 Continues

Friday, September 22, 2006
zaman.com

Renowned Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, who was charged with
"insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code,
was acquitted Thursday.

Charges were dropped against Shafak, 34, who gave birth on Saturday,
due to insufficient evidence.

She was brought to trial by the nationalistic Turkish Lawyers
Association because a fictional character in her best-selling novel
"The Bastard of Istanbul" made reference to the purported 1915 Armenian
Genocide, a highly contentious issue in Turkey.

Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s best-known novelist, had similar charges brought
against him earlier in the year, but he was similarly acquitted in
February. Since Article 301’s inception in June 2005, more than 60
cases have been opened against writers and journalists.

While the trial’s dismissal comes as welcome news to Turks eager for
E.U. accession, others believe that the root problem, Article 301
itself, hasn’t been resolved.

Shafak agrees: "The verdict is very pleasing in terms of Turkey’s
test of democracy and freedom of expression, but incomplete as long
as Article 301 remains as it is, open to manipulation," she said in
a telephone interview with the New York Times.