Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 2 2007

NGOs gather to discuss changes in Article 301

Turkish nongovernmental organizations are meeting today to discuss
possible changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) as
pressure mounts on the government to amend the law.
The government says it is open to the idea of changing the
controversial article, which critics including the European Union say
restricts freedom of expression, but it adds that changes would
require social consensus.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan made clear, earlier this week ,
that abolishment of the article was out of the question but that
amendments were possible. He also said the government was ready to
make its own decision and act alone on amendments to the law if the
nongovernmental organizations fail to come up with a joint proposal
on how Article 301 should be changed.
Today’s meeting, called by the Turkish Bar Association (TBB), will be
attended by representatives from some 19 nongovernmental
organizations, including the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity
Exchanges (TOBB), the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions
(Türk-Ýþ), the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DÝSK)
and Turkish Medical Association (TTB).
The nongovernmental organizations previously met with the government
to discuss how the article should be amended, but the government
demanded written proposals. News reports said the nongovernmental
organizations were expected to come up with a joint proposal on the
requested changes of Article 301.
Pressure to change Article 301 has been mounting since the murder on
Jan. 19th of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who had been
tried and sentenced to a six-month suspended imprisonment for
`insulting Turkishness’ in an article he wrote about the alleged
Armenian genocide.
Article 301 makes it a crime to `insult Turkishness’ and foresees up
to three years in jail for offenders.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress