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Ankara moves to amend ban on insults to Turkey |
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Written by International Herald Tribune
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
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The government of Turkey will change a law criticized by the European Union for curbing free speech and soon bring the proposal to Parliament for a vote, the justice minister said Tuesday, according to television news reports.
Hours earlier, the EU said in its annual report on Turkey that it was concerned about the law, which makes it a crime to insult Turkish identity or the country's institutions. The law has been used to prosecute people for making comments about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century, among other things.
"The amendment has been completed and will be brought to Parliament soon," the private NTV and CNN-Turk television networks quoted Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin as saying.
The law makes denigrating Turkish identity a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. The European Union has said it does not fit the union's standards of free speech and could be a stumbling block to Turkey's EU aspirations.
The EU enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, said when presenting the report on Turkey that it was not acceptable that writers, journalists, academics and other intellectuals be "prosecuted for simply expressing a critical but completely nonviolent opinion."
"The infamous Article 301 must be repealed or amended without delay."
Orhan Pamuk, the author and Nobel laureate, and Hrant Dink, the slain ethnic Armenian journalist, were both prosecuted under the law for their comments on the mass killings of the Armenians. Numerous other writers, journalists and academics have also been prosecuted.
Dink, editor of the minority Agos newspaper, was shot outside his Istanbul office on Jan. 19, and his murder has revived a debate about the law. Many said his prosecution under Article 301 had made him a target for radical nationalists. Tens of thousands turned out for his funeral, but many other Turks viewed him as an irritant whose commentaries were objectionable.
In its annual report on Turkey, the EU executive also repeated that Ankara must normalize its relations with Cyprus, an EU member, and honor a 2005 pact to open its ports and airports to the island republic.
The pace of reforms has slowed since Turkey's membership negotiations opened two years ago, and "significant further efforts are needed" in crucial areas, the report said.
The report drew a strong reaction from Ankara, which urged EU countries not to impede Turkey's efforts with what it called "obstacles that are not related" to the process. |
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