TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 23 2006
Integration Into West is One of Major Directions of Azerbaijan’s
Current Policy, Azeri President States
Source: Trend
Author: E.Huseynov
23.09.2006
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated to an international Forum
Bertelsmann-2006 in Berlin that integration into the West is one of
major directions of Azerbaijan’s current policy, Trend.
The President stated that Azerbaijan has joined the European
Neighborhood Policy and successfully participates in it. Speaking on
the legal, political and economic reforms carried out in the country
the Azerbaijani leader underlined that at present the South Caucasus
plays an important role for Europe. The delivery of the Caspian
energy resources to the European markets assumes special importance.
Azerbaijan has become a big oil producing country, whereas the energy
security is a matter of time for Europe. In this case Azerbaijan
is ready to play a role of reliable partner in ensuring the energy
security of Europe, he added.
However, the President stated that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh is great hindrance in the relationships between
Europe and the South Caucasus. Europe should play a serious role in
the resolution of the conflict and strive for confirming peace in
the region.
Mr Aliyev underlined that at present Armenian is only country
worldwide, where no national minority exists. “It is a moo-state,’
he stressed. He excluded the establishment of two Armenian countries,
stating that it contradicts the international norms and principle, as
well as the European standards and is poses threat for future Europe.

Turkish Daily News , Turkey
Sept 23 2006
Cicek may have been right
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Justice Minister Cicek had insisted that we be patient, arguing, ‘The
judiciary will fine-tune itself.’ Afterwards, Elif ªafak was found
not guilty. Now the Supreme Court of Appeals will have its say. If it
goes along with the decision, we will have passed a critical
threshold. Cicek will have been proven as right. The only thing I’m
worried about is the trials of the not-so-famous people.
Mehmet Ali Birand
I was interviewing Justice Minister Cemil Cicek for Kriter
magazine, which will be released with Radikal daily on Monday. Cicek
was constantly making the same argument.
“Everyone is so impatient. Just wait a while and you’ll see the
judiciary fine-tuning itself. If you take a look at the decisions
made up until now, you’ll see that important steps were taken on this
matter. You can’t provide a clear definition on everything laws
describe as a crime. These are defined through court decisions. We
can’t pass a law every time we face a problem.”
After an Istanbul court found Elif ªafak not guilty, Cicek called
to say,” Didn’t I say so?”
He is right.
He told me.
If the Supreme Court of Appeals approves the decision, the justice
minister will be proven right.
However, the trial we are talking about is for Elif ªafak, a famous
writer. The entire world was watching what the decision would be.
More importantly, most of Turkey was waiting to see what would
happen.
What about the trials of people we’ve never heard of? Some of them
are being convicted and suffering hardship.
The judiciary finding its own solutions to problems is fine, but do
we need to make ourselves suffer so much for progress?
301 needs to change for our sake:
There’s something I don’t agree with concerning Cicek’s argument.
The minister constantly argues that Turkey is being pressured by the
European Union to change Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301.
Yes, the EU has taken several initiatives against this article.
However, there is one thing the justice minister cannot see, and that
is the fact that the EU’s opposition to Article 301 is just a
reflection of the domestic reaction.
It is not the EU but part of Turkey that opposes Article 301.
In other words, we are against Article 301.
If the article is to be changed, it won’t be for the EU but so that
the people of this country can live freely and utilize their rights
to the fullest.
Kerincsiz and Co. lost:
I had written about my belief that Kemal Kerincsiz is the best
propaganda artist this county has ever had. I still hold this
opinion. He again attracted all the attention at the trial of ªafak.
He and a few of his friends were able to do something that no party
could. He succeeded in mobilizing the groups that are against
Turkey’s EU membership. I don’t share his opinions, but still you
need to give him credit for what he has done. He’s a one-man show.
He knows which cases to follow and what news to pursue. He knows
how to organize his team. He knows what to say to galvanize support.
He knows how to act in front of the cameras. Consequently, he is
always in the headlines.
However, we must also admit the fact that our media played a
tremendous role in making him famous. If we had just ignored his
antics, no one would have ever heard his name.
Despite all their efforts, the poor results they have achieved
speak for themselves.
Whenever they created a fuss, no matter what they tried to prevent,
they failed. They were only able to attract the attention of the
local and international media. They failed on the Armenian
conference, the Orhan Pamuk case and the ªafak case.
Kerincsiz and his friends may run for Parliament from the far-right
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in the next elections; however, no
matter what they do they can’t say, “I proudly represented my country
in the world.”
Let’s keep watching the shows of Kerincsiz and Co.
If the AKP had done what the CHP is doing…
You must have read it in yesterday’s newspapers. Opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies took a very weird stance
when Parliament’s General Assembly was discussing the “definition of
minorities and education of foreigners” clause in the Law on Private
Schools, as part of the 9th EU Harmonization Package. The CHP
deputies provoked Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies by
arguing, “If this proposal becomes law, Turkey will be training
priests,” and were able to suspend voting on the matter.
The foreign, interior affairs, justice and education ministries
worked on this proposal for months and it was pushed aside with just
a single sentence. The most important part of this affair is the fact
that this was done by the CHP, which believes it epitomizes
secularism.
If the AKP had done what the CHP did, we would have been furious.
We would have accused them of trying to take Turkey back to the Dark
Ages.
What’s happening with the CHP? Some CHP deputies don’t seem to be
aware of the fact that they are harming the country’s interests
merely in order to play politics.
–Boundary_(ID_evSwcOEDa+epWSfMZcKXcg)- –

Turkish Daily News , Turkey
Sept 23 2006
Kretschmer blasts military for disrespect of legal order
Saturday, September 23, 2006
‘They [the military] consider themselves the guardian of the
fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic and express their views
on all almost every aspect of public life that they consider relevant
from the perspective of a very wide concept of national security,’
says Kretschmer
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
The top representative of the European Union in Turkey, only weeks
before the end of his mission in the Turkish capital, yesterday
focused on the controversial role of the Turkish military in
politics, with harsh remarks criticizing security organs for having
“played their own games outside the control of the civilian
authorities, disrespecting the legal and institutional order.”
Outgoing Ambassador Hansjoerg Kretschmer, head of the European
Commission Delegation to Turkey, delivered his remarks yesterday in
Ankara during the launching of “Almanac Turkey, 2005– Security
Sector and Democratic Oversight,” the first of its kind in Turkey, by
a leading Istanbul-based think tank, the Turkish Economic and Social
Studies Foundation (TESEV).
“The debate about early elections and all the debate about the
modalities [of] how to elect the next president of the republic
reflected, in my view … a lack of respect for the grand national
assembly and the government,” Kretschmer said, in an apparent
reference to debates on whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
— whose willingness to move to Cankaya Palace is already known —
would be an appropriate president for the secular establishment since
his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has its roots in
political Islam.
‘Guardians of fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic’
“In a democracy the ultimate decision rests with … the people,
which must have power to define this service. It is they who decide
which kind of state they want to have, which role the state should
play and how much money they wish to pay for security. In other
words, the state is at the service of the people. It is not an end in
itself,” Kretschmer said.
“They [the military] consider themselves the guardian of the
fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic and express their views
on all almost every aspect of public life which they consider
relevant from the perspective of a very wide concept of national
security. Education, religious instructions, cultural rights,
university issues, just to mention a few… These expressions of
[their] views have of course more weight than the legitimate
expression of the views of individual citizens.”
In line with the theme of yesterday’s meeting, the ambassador,
whose mission in Ankara will finish at the end of next month,
emphasized that civilian control of the armed forces is a key issue
for Turkey’s future as well as a key issue for Turkey-EU relations.
“It is an important element in the section of political criteria in
Turkey’s accession process,” he said.
Þemdinli: ‘tip of an iceberg’
Opening his remarks about the Þemdinli case, Kretschmer described
the incident — in which two noncommissioned officers and a former
member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were involved
in the bombing of a bookstore that left four people dead — as the
“tip of an iceberg, as indicated by the subsequent confession of a
retired general.” He was referring to Lt. Gen. Altay Tokat’s
statements in which he indicated that he had ordered the bombing of
state property while on active duty in the Southeast in the ’90s.
“Security organs [are] somehow playing their own games, outside the
control of the civilian authorities, disrespecting the legal and
institutional order. The Copenhagen political criteria require
democracy, rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of
minorities, but they also require stable institutions which are
guarantees of all these elements,” Kretschmer continued.
The EU has already voiced its expectation that the ongoing judicial
process concerning the Þemdinli case would continue in line with the
principles of the supremacy of law and independence of the judiciary.
The initial prosecutor of the case was sacked after he suggested in
his indictment that Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaþar Buyukanýt — now
chief of general staff — was involved in an organized effort to
derail Turkey’s EU process.
“In my view, the big challenge for Turkey during the accession
process is to create such stable institutions, able to deliver their
services — including security — to the citizens of the country in a
way respectful of democratic principals. Then it can be hoped that
the security organs, the security sector, will be put in to its
appropriate provision as a service provider, fully controlled by the
institutions and indirectly by the people of Turkey,” Kretschmer
said.
Turkey, which began membership talks with the EU last year, has
over the past few years carried out a slate of far-reaching reforms
to bring itself in line with the bloc’s standards of democracy, many
of them aimed at limiting the military’s powers and its role in
politics.
Kretschmer argued that the reforms were “only a beginning” and
asked the government to “show courage” in exerting civilian control
over the armed forces and “exercise its legitimate authority without
the threat of being controlled.”
The Turkish army has swayed politics for decades. It carried out
three coups — in 1960, 1971 and 1980 — and in 1997 forced the
resignation of the country’s first Islamist-led government under
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
The military, which sees itself as the self-appointed guardians of
the country’s strictly secular system, also remains wary of the
ruling AKP, an offshoot of Erbakan’s Welfare Party (RP), which was
banned after being ousted from government.
‘EU insistent on Article 301’
Kretschmer also expressed pleasure over novelist Elif Þafak’s
acquittal on Thursday of charges that fictional characters in her
novel “The Bastard of Istanbul” had insulted Turkey’s identity by
referring to killings of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1915.
“To me it’s not yet clear whether Article 301 will even be
modified, because there have also been different voices from within
the government,” he noted, voicing the bloc’s insistency over need
for abolishment or at least rearrangement of the controversial
article which makes it a vague crime to insult “Turkishness.”
Erdoðan pledged on Thursday to consider amending Article 301 but
said the issue was a sensitive one.
A rise in nationalism ahead of next year’s general elections has
split the ruling AKP over whether to make the change, at a time when
support for EU membership is waning.
–Boundary_(ID_3cygdirwJGtcQ2Gk5PjLrQ)–

Vail Daily News, CO
Sept 23 2006
Leading author acquitted, but Turkey remains a country where writers
can be put on trial
A nationalist demonstrator gestures at a poster of author Elif Shafak
during a protest outsi of a courthouse in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday.
Benjamin Harvey
September 22, 2006
ISTANBUL, Turkey – One of Turkey’s leading authors was acquitted
Thursday of “insulting Turkishness” – a crime Western-looking Turks
view as an embarrassment and one of the biggest obstacles to joining
the European Union.
The speedy court decision was seen as a step toward securing greater
freedom of speech, but critics said until the law is abolished,
Turkey will remain a place where authors are regularly put on trial.
“The fact remains that (Turkey’s courts) established a restrictive
interpretation of article 301 of the penal code which is not in line
with the European Court of Human Rights and European standards of
freedom of expression,” EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy warned after
the decision.
But the government is reluctant to change the law – which makes it a
crime to insult Turkey, “Turkishness” or the government – because it
has broad nationalist support.
EU officials counter the real damage to Turkey’s image comes from
putting writers like Elif Shafak on trial – a case brought by
nationalist lawyers because of words spoken by the novelist’s
fictional characters.
The court ruled to acquit about an hour-and-a-half into the trial on
the grounds there was “no evidence” Shafak had insulted Turkishness.
“I hope that the absurdity of this case – we’re talking about
fictional characters – will encourage people that it’s time to act,”
said Joost Lagendijk, a senior European Parliament member who
attended the trial and is a vocal supporter of Turkey’s EU bid.
Lagendijk called on Turkey’s pro-EU Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, who has himself spent time in jail for reciting an Islamist
poem in 1999, to intervene and change the law.
“Each court case that is started is a victory for those who don’t
want Turkey in the EU, and a defeat for me and those in the EU who
are in favor of Turkey’s accession,” Lagendijk said.
But nationalist lawyers said they will continue to bring legal action
against anyone who insults Turkey and vowed to appeal the Shafak
decision.
Fiercely opposed to Turkey joining the EU and hostile to any foreign
intervention, the lawyers spent most of the trial trying to eject
non-Turkish observers – especially Lagendijk – from the packed
Istanbul courtroom.
“This is not a consulate court!” one of them yelled minutes after the
case began.
“Let the foreigners go to hell! They can supervise their own
country!” bellowed lawyer Fuat Turgut as he pushed his way through a
crowd in the doorway.
The lawyers were repeatedly rebuffed and they eventually left the
courtroom in protest, after which the judge moved quickly to acquit
Shafak.
“The court concluded in a 1 1/2-hour session that there was
insufficient evidence to suggest that she committed a crime,” Judge
Irfan Adil Uncu said.
Erdogan said he was pleased with the acquittal and said Turkey was
open to discussing article 301. But in implicit support of the intent
behind the law, he added: “Criticism is one thing, insulting is
another.”
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek made similar remarks this week, asking a
journalist for the Turkish Daily News whether he was willing to “let
people curse at Turkey, insult Turkishness and get away with it.”
Erdogan regularly files lawsuits over alleged personal insults, and
on Wednesday was awarded $3,400 in a case against a journalist who
suggested the prime minister might be mentally ill.
Shafak, 35, gave birth on Saturday and was at a hospital in Istanbul
and did not attend Thursday’s trial. If convicted, she could have
received a maximum three-year prison sentence.
Shafak’s husband Eyup Can, editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper
Referans, said he hoped the decision would be a model for future
cases, and pushed for the abolition of article 301.
“For the judge to make this decision in the first hearing is an
important step,” Can said as he was congratulated by friends after
the trial. “But the most painful thing is that Turkey has become
famous as a country that tries writers.”
In a sign public opinion may be turning in favor of change,
nationalist protesters outside the courtroom – usually a rowdy, often
violent group – were shouted down by other spectators.
Shafak’s book, “The Bastard of Istanbul,” was released in Turkey on
March 8 and has sold more than 50,000 copies. The court case was
brought for words spoken by fictional Armenian characters regarding
one of the most disputed episodes of Turkey’s history, the mass
killings of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
A Turkish court dropped charges last year against Orhan Pamuk,
another leading novelist who also faced trial for writing about the
killings of Armenians. The charges were dropped for technical reasons
amid intense international pressure.
However, 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.
Dink’s sentence was suspended, meaning he will not go to jail unless
he repeats the same offense.

Kurdish Media, UK
Sept 23 2006
It’s Time for the Bush Administration to Put Turks in Their Place
By Rauf Naqishbendi
A friendship between America and Turkey has been a liability for
America since the beginning, due to Turkey’s notoriously dirty human
rights record. During the Cold War Turkey’s strategic location
propelled America to seek a close relationship with Turkey.
Thankfully, all that changed when the Iron Curtain fell pronouncing
Turkey a triviality. Moreover, the Iraq War has proved Turkey’s
uselessness to America. While the Turks continue their human rights
abuses and threaten to cause trouble in Iraq, the Bush administration
has not put the Turks in their place, as justice demands.
Since the Iraqi Liberation mission, Turkey has been opposing the
notion of an independent Kurdistan, fearing that once the Kurds in
Iraq are free and democratic, their counterparts on the other side of
the border will demand the same. Clearly they are of the opinion
that, in order for the Turks to justify their violation of Kurdish
human rights in their country, Kurds ought to be abused everywhere in
the world.
It is bewildering why America would want to support and befriend a
regime such as Turkey’s with all their atrocities against humanity,
not only against Kurds but also Serbs, Greeks, Assyrians and
Armenians. The United States’ apathy is overwhelming; for decades
they have generously provided assistance to Turkey without
considering the country’s human rights record. Common sense and
common justice has been rare with American leaders regarding their
relationship with Turkey. Think of the Armenian genocide committed by
Turks, yet America ignored the plight of Armenians demanding Turks to
acknowledge their atrocities.
And reaching the height of absurdity, American leaders and
politicians have been calling Turkey a great democracy in the Middle
East, in order to justify the United States’ immense support of
Turkey, citing the Turkish elections and constitution as proofs.
While it’s true that election is a vital pillar of democratic
establishment which reflects fair representation, and fair
representation requires a sound and moral constitution; these pillars
of democracy need to be genuine, otherwise their casual application
will weaken the foundation of the institution. A constitution is
vital to democracy, but it needs to be moral and apply consistently
to every citizen. But Turkey’s constitution excludes all non-Turks
who live in Turkey by a simple declaration that all citizens of
Turkey are Turks. This is a moral predicament since one third of
Turkey’s population is Kurds, and there are also Arabs, Assyrians and
Armenians. Where is justice and morality in a constitution that is
privileging one portion of the population and demonizing the rest?
Turkey has been a violent country for decades as the Kurdish rebel
P.K.K has been fighting for an equitable system of justice and
equality for all. During this period Turkey’s rulers usually have
been civilians on the surface, but military at heart. Thus the rule
of army and violence has made democracy in Turkey scarce, for under
the rule of army and bloody violence there is no democracy.
Additionally, Turkey is not a pristine democracy; rather, it is a
corrupted country with bribery, favoritism and cronyism ubiquitous.
These attributes encumber the glory of democracy, and go against its
true essence. As one can see, these arguments contradict any
proclamation that Turkey is a democracy. If anyone claims that it is,
that person either does not have a true knowledge of Turkey or does
not understand the true meaning of democracy.
President Bush would display a new degree of enlightenment if he were
to address the prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his
next visit to Washington as follows: “Mr. Erdogan, we have heard
enough of your exploitation of the Kurds, and your opposition to the
inspiration of the world’s biggest nation without statehood to obtain
their independence. I feel compassion for the Kurds because of what
they have suffered in your country; we let your leaders be as
intolerant as they desired for a long time. We lavished you with
monetary, political and military assistance, and you utilized it as
fodder for your prejudice and pride. These are unfounded in today’s
world and are just relics of your past. We have gone as far as
arguing the case for your membership in the EU, even though we knew
your nation doesn’t resemble Europeans.
You know it has been an established tradition of our presidency for
the US president not to apologize, and I shall not violate this
tradition, but were I permitted to break that tradition, I would
proffer the Kurds in your country an earnest apology for our support
to your government and that of your predecessors that they have
turned to abuse against the Kurds.
The Kurds have been our faithful ally in our war against Saddam and
terrorism, and America is looked upon as respectable and popular
among the Kurdish; on the other hand, the degree of anti-American
sentiment amongst your people is shamefully high. Therefore, we are
not going to forsake our faithful friends, the Kurds, to please an
old friend who has proven perfidious.
A free and independent Kurdistan is imminent for it is the will and
determination of the Kurdish nation. The will of a nation is
impassable and neither you nor anyone else can hinder it. That leaves
you with no choice but to accept and put aside your bigotry towards
the Kurds. A free and independent Kurdistan will be beneficial to you
and your people, therefore I ask you not to merely tolerate it but
rather to welcome it wholeheartedly. I will join you and your people
in celebrating the birth of a free and independent country,
Kurdistan, with its waving flag visible from your border. We should
let this new nation prosper and bloom; we should all help these great
people who are good friends of ours. I assure you, they too will be
your and your people’s friends.”

The Guardian, UK
Sept 23 2006
Justice on trial
Maureen Freely on the threat to freedom of expression faced by
Turkey’s writers
Saturday September 23, 2006
The Guardian
At 9.15, all is quiet outside the Istanbul courthouse. By half past,
film crews have begun to congregate around the entrance. Now two
buses veer around the corner, disgorging 60 or so riot police. As
they take position, so, too, do the demonstrators. Their banners
bear the name of the author/academic/journalist who is to be tried
this morning. Whatever the alleged offence – insulting Turkishness,
alienating the public from military service, failing to protect the
memory of Ataturk – they will brand this defendant as a traitor,
an imperialist and a spy.
By now the corridors of the courthouse are teeming with writers,
scholars, lawyers and activists, here to support the right to free
expression. Many will have faced similar charges, or soon will do.
Since Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted under Article 301 last year for
openly discussing the killing of a million Armenians in 1915, as
many as 80 others have been prosecuted for expressing their views on
this and other taboo subjects. Forty-five more will face judges by
the end of the year. Suddenly there is a voice of authority. “Make
way for the lawyers!” The crowd falls silent as five men in flowing
robes cut through the crowd.
Their leader is Kemal Kerincsiz, a lawyer with ultra-nationalist
links who rose to fame last year by bringing charges against Pamuk.
He was back in court this week, this time to accuse the bestselling
novelist Elif Shafak. Her “crime” is to have allowed a fictitious
character, in her latest novel The Bastard of Istanbul, to use the
word genocide while discussing his Armenian ancestors, but Kerincsiz
and the Unity of Jurists have probably had their eyes on her since
she took part in (and eloquently defended) a controversial conference
on the Armenian question in Istanbul last year. They almost succeeded
in banning it; when a loophole allowed it to be moved to a new venue,
they called upon all of Turkey’s patriots to gather outside and vent
their anger.
Only a handful turned up, but there were enough to fill a TV screen.
Kerincsiz and his associates went on to initiate a string of other
prosecutions, and they have attended the trials of all those famous
enough to attract a television crew. Assaults on foreign and Turkish
observers inside and outside the courtroom have been widely (and
sometimes admiringly) reported, as have their insults.
Because there has been little effort to rein them in, it is assumed
they are linked to a nationalist clique inside the state bureacracies
that opposes Turkish entry into the EU: whatever the economic benefits
of accession might be, it would also result in a rolling back of
state power and a loosening of its draconian controls on cultural and
political expression. In his speeches to camera, Kerincsiz strikes a
more populist note, inviting viewers to remember the Treaty of Sèvres,
in which the Allied powers sought to parcel out the remains of the
Ottoman powers among the victors of the first world war. The EU,
he warns, is the old threat in new clothing.
That his words resonate for many in Turkey is evident from the
nationalist monuments that grow in number every day. But Kerincsiz does
not owe his media profile to the electorate: the ultra-nationalist MHP
(Nationalist Action Party), of which he was once a branch president,
lost all its seats in the National Assembly at the last election. It
does, however, have a long history of helping those in power with
dirty tricks. What many defendants dread most is not a judge handing
down a prison sentence (so far none have done so). What they fear
are calls that have been heard to “silence this traitor forever”.
October 5 is going to be a logistical headache for the
ultranationalists, because no fewer than five new trials involving
eight defendants are set to begin then. The one attracting most
press interest is against the journalist Ipek Califlar. In her recent
bestselling biography of Latife Hanim, who was briefly married to Kemal
Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, she repeated an anecdote about
Ataturk escaping from would-be assassins by dressing up in women’s
clothing. Now she and her editor are being sued for insulting Ataturk’s
memory. This is sure to cast a shadow – perhaps a deliberate one –
over the EU Commission’s progress report, due on October 24.
High points from later in the season include a second prosecution
of novelist and columnist Perihan Magden (prosecuted last spring
for writing in defence of a conscientious objector) and a fourth
(possibly even a fifth) prosecution of Hrant Dink, the editor of
the pioneering Turkish-Armenian weekly, Agos. So far, the threat
of prosecution has had no discernable effect on what writers write,
and publishers publish. When I spoke this week to Muge Sokmen, who
is Shafak’s editor and the joint head of Turkish PEN, she reminded me
that Turkey has 1,000 independent publishers, 400 of whom are active.
She pointed out that the most aggressively prosecuted novelists and
journalists are also the most widely read. “This must mean we have
the Turkish public on our side,” she said.
In the press, too, there is growing pressure to have the law changed,
she says. “Each new case shows how absurd the law is, how it is
open to mis-interpretation and abuse.” But so far, the government
has shown little interest in reform. This may be because it hopes
the prosecutions will decrease in number and variety once there is a
body of case law. Or it may be because the prime minister has himself
pressed charges against several cartoonists who portrayed him as a
dog or a giraffe.
Where will it all end? It’s too early to say. But in the short term,
expect to see more writers travelling through the courts. And pray
that no one else gets hurt.
–Boundary_(ID_3dLjmYmuyD38cfmj9o8CxA)–

Istanbul court drops charges against novelist Elif Safak/ EU welcomes ruling
Dunya online, Turkey
Sept 23 2006
22/09/2006 14:20:32
The Beyoglu 1st Criminal Court in Istanbul on Thursday dropped all
charges against novelist Elif Safak, who had faced up to three years in
prison for writing a work of fiction in which characters referred to a
“genocide” of Armenians in Turkey during World War I. Safak didn’t
appear at the trial, as she was confined to hospital in Istanbul
after giving birth to a baby girl on Saturday.
The European Commission on Thursday hailed the court’s acquittal.
“The commission welcomes this recent judgement; this is obviously
good news,” said Krisztina Nagy, spokeswoman for the European Union’s
executive arm. Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman
Joost Lagendijk also praised the verdict.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Safak’s acquittal,
saying his government was open to reform proposals to expand freedom
of speech. “Of course, the ruling concerning Ms. Safak has pleased me,”
Erdogan said.

Peninsula On-line, Qatar
Sept 23 2006
Media call for law on ‘Turkishness’ to be scrapped
Web posted at: 9/23/2006 8:8:24
Source ::: REUTERS
ANKARA ~U Turkey’s media called on the government yesterday to scrap
a law making it a crime to insult “Turkishness”, saying it tarnished
the image of a country seeking European Union membership.
Leading female novelist Elif Shafak was acquitted on Thursday of
charges that fictional characters in her novel “The Bastard of
Istanbul” had insulted Turkey’s identity by referring to a massacre
of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1915. But newspapers, in their
strongest criticism yet of article 301 of the penal code, said the
law still undermined democracy.
“What is 301? It is a shame on democracy. It is an article of law
that certainly does not suit a free and democratic country,” said
columnist Hasan Cemal of liberal daily Milliyet. The EU is pushing
Ankara to improve freedom of expression as a condition of the Muslim
country’s entry. But analysts say a powerful anti-EU nationalist
lawyers’ group, which has brought dozens of such cases to the courts,
and parts of the judiciary are undermining the drive.
Kemal Kerincsiz of the Grand Lawyers’ Association has said he plans
to appeal against the acquittal of Shafak. “The European Union means
slavery and prisoner’s chains for Turkey,” he said.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged on Thursday to consider
amending article 301 but said the issue was sensitive. A rise in
nationalism ahead of next year’s general elections has split the
ruling AK Party, which has roots in political Islam, over whether to
make the change at a time when support for EU membership is waning.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2006
Azerbaijani President Leaves for Germany
AssA-Irada 22/09/2006 23:36
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will leave for Berlin, Germany
on Friday. During the two-day visit, he is expected to attend the
International Bertelsmann Forum focusing on political and economic
prospects in Europe, the German embassy in Baku told AssA-Irada.
Aliyev will also hold a tete-a-tete meeting with the German
Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss issues of cooperation between
the two countries. The president is also scheduled to meet Georgian
parliament speaker Nino Burchanadze as well as other leaders and
heads of government.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict will be
among the issues to be discussed. A document between Azerbaijan and
the European Union is to be signed during the visit as well.
Forums of this kind are organized by Carl Bertelsmann Foundation once
in two years in an effort to hold dialogue on the future of Europe
among political, economic and cultural circles and media outlets. The
last such event, “European alternatives – changes and prospects for
expanding Europe”, was held in Berlin in 2004 and drew over 30 leaders
and prime ministers, parliament speakers and ministers from 22 European
states, as well as representatives of the United States and Israel.

Lagendijk, Eurlings agree ‘genocide recognition’ not required for EU membership
Dunya online, Turkey
Sept 22 2006
22/09/2006 14:20:20 Geri don gonder yazýcý
Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Chairman Joost
Lagendijk said yesterday that Turkey had a chance on the road to its
EU membership.
Stressing that Turkey’s recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide
wasn’t a precondition to its EU membership, Lagendijk said that the
matter was still controversial and it was not yet clear whether or
not there had been any genocide of Armenians.
Furthermore, European Parliament Turkey Rapportor Camiel Eurlings
stated that the so-called Armenian genocide shouldn’t be a precondition
for Turkey’s EU membership. He added that he would propose changes
to the subject in the recent report on Turkey prepared by him.
–Boundary_(ID_8YFxOtH8GFyM3ra669UAeQ)–