PROSECUTOR OPENS NEW CASE AGAINST ARMENIAN-TURKISH JOURNALIST FOR ‘INSULTING TURKISHNESS’

Associated Press Worldstream
September 25, 2006 Monday 4:46 PM GMT

An Istanbul prosecutor opened a new case against Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink for the crime of "insulting Turkishness,"
Dink said on Monday.

The case was opened because Dink told a foreign news agency in an
interview that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around
the time of World War I constituted genocide.

"Of course I say it was genocide," Dink had said. "With these events
you see the disappearance of a people who lived on these lands for
4,000 years."

Dink could face up to three years in prison if convicted under article
301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes it a crime punishable by
prison time to insult Turkey, "Turkishness" or the government.

Turkey’s official stance is that the evacuation and mass deaths
of Armenians living in Turkey from 1915 to 1923 did not amount to
genocide. It says the frequently cited death toll of 1.5 million
is inflated.

Writers and academics who have stated otherwise in Turkey have often
found themselves in court and facing the possibility of imprisonment.

Dink had previously been convicted of attempting to influence the
judiciary after his bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper, Agos,
ran articles criticizing article 301. Dink’s sentence was suspended,
meaning he would not go to prison unless convicted again.

The European Union has warned Turkey that changing or abolishing the
law is a prerequisite for securing freedom of expression in Turkey,
and that not doing so could mean the end of Turkey’s EU bid.

Novelist Elif Shafak was acquitted last week of insulting Turkishness,
a charge launched against her for words uttered by fictional Armenian
characters in her book, "The Bastard of Istanbul."

Turkish courts dropped similar charges against acclaimed novelist
Orhan Pamuk earlier this year following an international uproar.

Dink, who had previously threatened in an emotional interview to
leave Turkey, said he would stay on and fight the charges.

"I’ll go to the court. I’ll defend myself. What more can I do?" he
said on Monday.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress