FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS NON-NEGOTIABLE, EU COMMISSIONER TELLS TURKEY

Agence France Presse — English
October 4, 2006 Wednesday 2:31 PM GMT

Turkey must take steps to ensure freedom of expression if it wants
to join the European Union, European Enlargement Commissioner Ollie
Rehn said Wednesday, adding the issue was non-negotiable.

"This is not a bargaining issue. Freedom of expression is one of
the fundamental values of the EU," Rehn told the NTV television
news channel. "It will be in Turkey’s interest to guarantee freedom
of expression."

Brussels has recently raised concerns over free speech in Turkey after
a string of intellectuals were brought to trial under a much-criticized
article of the penal code.

The code’s Article 301 foresees up to three years imprisonment
for "denigrating Turkish national identity" and "insulting state
institutions."

No one has been jailed yet under the provision. But in July the
appeals court confirmed a suspended six-month sentence handed down
to Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, setting a precedent for
dozens of other pending cases.

"We need to see some steps being taken to amend the notorious Article
301 so that freedom of expression can be fully guaranteed in Turkey,"
Rehn told NTV.

"There is no charge in European penal codes about insulting Finnishness
or Britishness," he said. "And when we look at the implementation in
Turkey, we see that Article 301 is interpreted by prosecutors, courts
and lawyers in a way that very much limits freedom of expression."

The Turkish government has said it is committed to pursue democratic
reforms to ease its entry into the EU and said it is open to proposals
to amend Article 301.

Rehn’s remarks came ahead of a crucial annual report that the EU’s
executive arm — the European Commission — will issue on November
8 on Turkey’s progress in its membership talks with the EU, which
began in October 2005.

Apart from human rights concerns, the talks have also been clouded by
Turkey’s refusal to open its air and sea ports to Cyprus, an EU-member
state Ankara does not recognize.

The EU has warned Turkey that the talks could be suspended if it
refuses to grant trade privileges to Cyprus under a customs union
agreement with the 25-nation bloc.

Ankara insists that Cypriot ships and planes will remain barred from
Turkish ports unless the EU unless delivers on its promise to ease
trade restrictions on the island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot state,
recognized only by Turkey.

The Finnish presidency of the bloc has proposed a formula to help
resolve the stalemate.

Rehn is scheduled to leave Turkey Thursday after talks with Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.