FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS HOSTAGE TO THE ARMENIAN QUESTION
By Orhan Kemal Cengä°Z
Today’s Zaman
June 5 2009
Turkey
Ironically, the day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rebuked
Israeli President Shimon Peres at the last Davos summit, saying,
"You know how to kill very well," employees of the Taraf daily,
a liberal Turkish newspaper, were on trial in 16 criminal cases.
Erdogan exercised his freedom of expression to the limit; however,
in his country one single newspaper — Taraf again — has been on
trial in 69 different criminal cases. In all these cases, charges
were pressed against the staff of this newspaper for their peaceful
exercise of freedom of expression.
If Erdogan or someone else said "You know how to kill very well,"
to the members of an institution in Turkey, let us say against the
military commanders, he would be charged with the crime of "insulting
an institution" under the infamous Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code
(TCK).
The other component that is also punishable under Article 301 is
"insulting Turkishness." Article 301 is a symbol of the lack of
freedom of expression in Turkey. Many believe that this article
was responsible for the murder of Hrant Dink. Dink became a target
of ultranationalist groups in Turkey after being tried under this
article. Some suspects in the Ergenekon case used to follow 301 cases
and incited militants against the accused in those trials. Luckily,
after the beginning of the Ergenekon investigation, we have not
witnessed such hate-mongering campaigns.
This 301 issue had always been on the agenda of the EU, and every
single delegation from the EU has raised their concerns and their
wish for the annulment of this article. However, the government has
made merely cosmetic changes and introduced a permission clause which
stipulates that for anyone to be tried under this article the minister
of justice should allow it first.
But why can we not get rid of this article all together? It is obvious
that the article has been seen as the last bastion against undesired
remarks about the Armenian question. For example, if someone says
"Turks know how to kill very well," he would be punished under this
article. Temel Demirer, a journalist, has been on trial under Article
301 just because he said "The Armenian genocide did take place in this
country." Then-Justice Minister M. Ali Å~^ahin gave permission for
the trial, noting, "I will not let anyone call my state a murderer."
Very recently, the Human Rights Agenda Association (HRAA), which
I chair, made an application to the Ministry of Justice to get
statistical information to find out what is going on under this article
in relation to the permission process. The ministry gave an official
answer to the request of the HRAA and stated: "As of 27.04.2009,
766 files had reached the ministry, for 73 files, permission for
trial has been granted and 74 have been under review to be granted
trial permission for the time being." We cannot understand "for which
statements" these permissions are granted. However, it is obvious
from these numbers that that Turkey’s freedom of expression problem
just continues. If a significant portion of these permissions turn
out to be related to remarks about the Armenian question, I will not
be surprised.
In my opinion, the biggest insult to Turkishness is the lack of
freedom of expression in this country. Having this article and saying,
"The debate about Armenian question should be left to historians"
is not an honest approach. How can we discuss the Armenian question
when there is a legally sanctioned ban?
The prime minister recently said: "For years those of different
identities have been kicked out of our country. … This was not done
with common sense. This was done under a fascist approach." These
remarks have a historical importance. But is it also a step to get rid
of Article 301? Will the prime minister grant the Turkish nation the
same degree of freedom of expression as he has been exercising? We
will see. One thing is certain: We need a much broader freedom of
expression to make sure that this "fascist approach" goes to the
dustbin of history.