Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 2 2007

EP member Lagendijk sends letter to Erdoðan and Baykal on Dink

European Parliament (EP) member Joost Lagendijk has sent a letter to
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal asking them to
immediately change Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which
Lagendijk thinks is responsible for the murder of journalist Hrant
Dink.

Joost lagendijk
Lagendijk explained that Article 301 was behind rising intolerance
and aggressive nationalism in Turkey. He admitted that the penal
codes of various EU member states contained articles penalizing the
denigration of state organs and administrations. `In my own country,
the Netherlands, insulting the authorities or a public body or
institution can lead to imprisonment,’ Lagendijk gave as an example.
However, Article 301 of the TCK was different from other similar
articles in the EU because of two main reasons. `First there is the
word `Turkishness’ in the first paragraph of Article 301. This is an
expression which you will not find in any European penal code. The
second point concerns the reasoning behind the article. In the
Netherlands and in other European states, the reason is pragmatic: it
serves the orderly functioning of the public service,’ explained
Lagendijk. The EP member said that none of the high profile cases
against writers and journalists brought before Turkish courts under
Article 301 correspond to this type of reasoning.
Lagendijk said it was very urgent to amend this article following the
murder of Dink as it leads to life threatening situations in its
present form. `We cannot wait any longer,’ expressed Lagendijk. If
the state needed protection against insult for the functioning of
Turkish democracy, Lagendijk added, an article should be adopted so
no one could misinterpret it or exploit it for criminal purposes.
He asked both Erdoðan and Baykal to have the courage to amend this
article, expressing that Turkey needs political leaders to take the
country forward not backwards; leaders that realize that Turkey’s
long term interests are not served by giving in to extreme and
violent nationalism; leaders that are willing to lead the country in
a more democratic direction, with tolerance and respect for divergent
views.