Today’s Zaman, Turkey –
Jan 27 2007
Erdogan noncommittal on changes to Article 301
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declined to give
assurance to the EU over changing Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code (TCK) but reaffirmed that his government was open to idea of
amending the article.
The EU has bitterly criticized Article 301, saying it restricts
freedom of expression, but Turkey has so far avoided taking steps to
directly amend it. Pressure on the government to change the
controversial article, under which numerous writers, intellectuals
and journalists have landed in court, has been increasing since the
murder of a Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor.
Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the bilingual Agos newspaper, was shot
dead by a 17-year-old assailant outside his office on Friday. He had
been tried under Article 301 for "insulting Turkishness" and
sentenced to a six-month suspended imprisonment for an article he
wrote about an alleged genocide of Armenians at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire.
Turkey’s top business group, the Turkish Industrialists and
Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD), and the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe have raised concerns over the
article.
Ambassadors of EU countries, meeting with Erdogan at a dinner on
Wednesday evening in Ankara, clearly expressed the bloc’s
expectations for changes to Article 301, according to the private
ANKA news agency.
Erdogan made no reference to Article 301 in his speech to the
ambassadors but touched on the issue in a question-and-answer
session. Responding to the diplomats’ questions, Erdogan
repeated the line of his government and said most of the problems
stemmed from the way the law was implemented.
He also complained that the EU had not expressed any concern over
Article 301 in its preparatory stage and added that some EU member
countries also had similar laws in their national codes.
The EU continues to have firm expectations that Article 301 be
amended, but some ambassadors showed "understanding" toward the
Turkish government’s position, given that two critical elections lay
ahead, according to ANKA.
Presidential elections are scheduled for May and parliamentary
elections will take place in November. But in his speech,
Erdogan said the upcoming elections would not affect the
government’s determination for reforms.
In comments on Dink’s killing, Erdogan said the attack was
against Turkey. During Dink’s funeral, up to 100,000 people gathered
in Istanbul to attend and carried banners reading "We are all
Armenians" and "We are all Hrant Dink."
"Turkey is the inheritor of a great civilization that embraced people
of different races and faiths for centuries," Erdogan told the
ambassadors.
27.01.2007
Ankara Today’s Zaman with wires
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
