A DAMNING REPORT ON ATTACKS AGAINST FREE SPEECH IN TURKEY
by wsws (reposted)
Bay Area Indymedia, CA
April 3 2007
On March 26, the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish
Publishers’ Union issued an alarming report on the state of free speech
in Turkey. The report lists the large number of book confiscations and
prosecutions of writers, editors and translators tried and sentenced
in 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. The report is dedicated to the
memory of Hrant Dink, a well-known Turkish-Armenian journalist who was
killed by a 17-year-old fascist assassin on January 19 in Istanbul in
front of his paper’s (bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos) office.
The report paints a grim picture of the state of free speech in Turkey
and provides a full and detailed list of those who have been taken
to court for their speeches, writings, published articles, and even
their translations.
The very first line of the report points out that the year 2006 was
one of the worst in terms of freedom of speech and freedom of the
press, and the same problems persist in 2007. The report warns that
continuing attacks on freedom of speech have been accompanied by
physical violence, which reached its climax with the heinous murder
of Hrant Dink.
The authors of the report are not optimistic about the rest of 2007.
They point out that with the beginning of the New Year in January,
author Taner Akcam and journalist Aydin Engin were brought to court,
and even the funeral of Hrant Dink was the subject of a court case.
At the same time, the government has been resisting the calls for the
removal of obstacles to free expression, most notably the notorious
Article 301. In the report’s own words, Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code "was the champion of the year."
According to the report, in 2006, some 293 writers, publishers,
journalists, intellectuals, translators and human rights activists were
brought before courts. In 2005, this figure was 157. At the moment,
22 dissident journalists and editors are behind bars.
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