Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 26 2007
Gov’t ready to take steps to amend Article 301
Within two weeks the Turkish government will assess an amendment on a
controversial law that has been widely considered as a stumbling
block for freedom of expression in Turkey, Justice Minister Mehmet
Ali Þahin said Tuesday.
Þahin told reporters that his ministry will hand the draft amendment
to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which makes it a
crime to "insult Turkishness," to the cabinet within 15 days.
Turkey has been under heavy pressure from the EU to amend or scrap
Article 301, which has been used to prosecute Turkish writers and
intellectuals, notably for comments on the killings of Anatolian
Armenians in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire. Last month, the EU’s
executive commission criticized Turkey for not carrying out any
substantial reforms in the past two years and urged the government,
which was given a strong mandate when it was re-elected to power, to
reinvigorate the stalled reform process.
The most important element in the draft amendment is that it requires
prosecutors to secure permission from the Justice Ministry to launch
court trials against the expression of opinions, Þahin said. This
change is expected to lead to a decrease in the number of cases
opened under Article 301. The term "Turkishness" in the article is
expected to be changed to "the Turkish Republic," while the
expression "insulting Turkishness" is expected to be replaced by
"insulting the Turkish nation."
Discussions on the amendment are being carried out both by lawyers
from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the
Justice Ministry, Þahin noted.
The government has so far refused to heed EU demands to amend the
article without delay, saying the issue will be taken up as part of
its broader drive to reform the current Constitution, which was
drafted under military rule in 1982.
Releasing its annual progress report in November, the European
Commission called on Ankara to make "significant further efforts"
toward improving freedom of expression and religion, stressing that
more people were prosecuted under Article 301 last year than in 2005.
It particularly urged steps to repeal or amend Article 301, saying
accession talks will not be opened on at least one of 35 negotiation
chapters if the law is not amended or repealed.
Two years ago the government tried Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan
Pamuk under article 301 for his remarks on the events of 1915-16, but
he was acquitted on a legal technicality. Claiming that the killings
of Anatolian Armenians amounted to genocide is a criminal offense in
Turkey under Article 301. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has
recommended that the EU not extend accession talks to the key areas
of justice and human rights until the article is changed.
Critics say Turkey’s centre-right government is dragging its feet,
fearing that amending the law could spark a nationalist backlash at a
time when EU membership is becoming less popular among Turks. EU
officials said the law was poisoning Turkey’s relations with Armenia
and that it is a burden on the media and NGOs in Turkey.
Prominent Turkish Armenian editor Hrant Dink, who was shot dead in
Ýstanbul in January by an ultranationalist youth, had also been
handed a suspended jail sentence under Article 301 for his comments
on the Armenian issue. Tens of thousands of people marched through
Ýstanbul at his funeral to protest against ultranationalist violence.
As the first anniversary of Dink’s assassination on Jan. 19
approaches, it is not yet clear when the cabinet will approve the
amendment on Article 301. Earlier this month veteran publisher Ragýp
Zarakolu, who could receive a jail sentence of up to three years for
insulting national identity, described Article 301 as "very
dangerous."
"If writers and journalists are depicted as traitors or enemies of
Turkey, it becomes difficult to be in front of Turkish public
opinion. It opens the door to being lynched or killed by
ultranationalist gangs," Zarakolu said, citing the example of Dink.
26.12.2007
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
