As Elif Safak trial begins, Erdogan warns police

Hurriyet, Turkey
September 21, 2006

As internationally-known Turkish author Elif Safak goes to court today
to face charges brought against her that she "insulted Turkishness"
in one of her most recent novels, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has reportedly given orders to the Istanbul police headquarters that
street demonstrations in support of convicting Safak by nationalist
citizens are not to be tolerated.

The case against Safak was brought about by well-known nationalist
lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, who heads up a conservative group of lawyers
based in Istanbul.

Kerincsiz, who gained notoriety for his attempts to stop the Armenian
conferences held earlier this year in Istanbul, has based his case
against Safak on the 301st article of the Turkish Penal Code, which
calls for prison terms for people convicted by the court of insulting
"Turkishness, the Turkish Republic, or the Turkish Parliament."

In preparation for the Safak hearing, lawyer Kerincsiz has reportedly
sent an announcement entitled "National Duty" to supporters and members
of his legal group, telling them to come and demonstrate in front of
the Beyoglu courthouse where the trial is to take place.

In the group’s web site, a passage reading "Elif Safak is the
newly crowned princess of the neo-liberals, the ethnic minorities,
the separationists, the EU and US supporters, and the so-called
intellectuals" has been up all week.

Prime Minister Erdogan told Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah
yesterday "I do not want to see the Kerincsiz supporters on the
street." Previous trials of famous authors such as Orhan Pamuk and
Perihan Magden have put Turkey in an uncomfortable international
spotlight, just as the Elif Safak trial, before it has even begun,
has managed to do. Whether or not the Turkish Parliament in Ankara
is going to move to alter the 301st article of the penal code is a
question many are now asking throughout Turkey and abroad.