Rights body urges law change after murder
Independent Online, South Africa
Jan 25 2007
Strasborg, France – A European rights watchdog urged Ankara on Thursday
to change a law that many Turks say fuels hardline nationalism and
contributed to the murder of a prominent Armenian editor.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said Turkey should
scrap article 301 of its penal code which makes it a crime to insult
Turkey’s identity, state institutions and security forces.
"The existence of this measure, which judicially limits freedom
of expression, only validates legal and other attacks against
journalists," a resolution passed by the assembly said.
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down last week by
a Turkish youth who said Dink had insulted Turks.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday he supported changes to
the law. The European Union has also called on Turkey, an EU candidate,
to abrogate the law.
Dink, like dozens of other Turkish intellectuals, had been prosecuted
under article 301 for his writings on the massacres of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks during World War One – a highly sensitive issue
in Turkey.
Dink’s murder shocked the country and brought more than 100 000 people
onto the streets of Istanbul on Tuesday. His death has put the ruling
AK Party again on the defensive over article 301.
Analysts say the government is dragging its feet despite repeated
promises because the AK Party does not want to look soft amid a rise
in nationalism during an election year.
Turkey denies charges by Armenia and other countries that 1,5 million
Armenians died in a systematic genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks
during World War One.
Turkey says that hundreds of thousands of both Muslim Turks and
Christian Armenians died in a conflict during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
