Reporters without Borders, France
July 13 2005
Armenian journalist faces three years jail for “insulting Turkish
identity”
Reporters Without Borders today criticised the current trial of a
Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, for “insulting Turkish
identity” and said the government taboo against publicly discussing
the 1915 genocide against Armenians was a “continuing barrier to
freedom of expression” in Turkey.
It said that with only three months to go before negotiations were
due to start about Turkey joining the European Union, Dink risked
being jailed under article 301 of the criminal code for publishing an
article (on 13 February 2004) called “Getting to know Armenia” in the
Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly, Agos, that he runs. His trial
began on 7 July before a court in Sisli, Istanbul.
The world press freedom organisation said it was concerned about
fuzzy language in the new criminal code that could “easily be used
against journalists discussing sensitive topics,” such as the
Armenian genocide or withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus.
Dink’s article urged Armenians to turn their attention “to the new
blood of independent Armenia,” as the only way to free them from the
burden of exile and called on them to symbolically reject “the
adulterated part of their Turkish blood.” Nine complaints for
“insulting Turkish identity” had been filed against him by 16 April
2004 before the Sisli court.
“This trial is based on a total misunderstanding,” Dink told
Reporters Without Borders. “I never meant to insult Turkish citizens.
The term in question was taken out of context and is only symbolic.
The real subject of the article is the Armenian diaspora who, once
they have come to terms with the Turkish part of their identity, can
seek new answers to their questions from independent Armenia.”
State prosecutor Turgay Evsen has called for a three-year prison
sentence for Dink under the new penal code, which came into force on
1 June. Dink founded his paper in Istanbul in 1996 and it has a
circulation of 5,500.