Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 3 2007
NGOs send the ball back to government’s court on 301 changes
A group of non-governmental organizations which gathered in Ankara
yesterday to discuss possible changes to the infamous Article 301 of
the Turkish Penal Code has failed to come up with a joint proposal on
desired amendments and said instead that they were ready to assess a
concrete proposal to be outlined by the government.
`We agreed that first the political will must take a concrete step,’
said Özdemir Özok, the chairman of Turkish Bar Association (TBB)
whose association initiated yesterday’s meeting, after the five-hour
talks. "There was a consensus that the government’s step in this
regard should be assessed and that efforts [for amendments] should
continue." Özok said there was no specific plan to hold a second
meeting to discuss Article 301, although similar gatherings may
convene according to future developments.
The meeting came after the government repeatedly said it expected
non-governmental organizations to come up with concrete proposals on
how Article 301, which critics say restricts freedom of expression,
should be amended. The law makes `insulting Turkishness’ a crime
punishable by up to three years in prison. The government has said it
was ready to introduce amendments in a limited scope, like a decrease
in penalties if the `crime’ was committed abroad.
The government is under growing pressure to change Article 301 since
Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who had been tried and
convicted under it, was killed by a teenage assailant who reportedly
confessed to killing because Dink had insulted `Turkish blood.’
Mourners at Dink’s funeral procession, which drew up to 100,000
people, carried banners that read `Murderer 301.’
Yesterday’s meeting of some 18 NGOs, primarily representing labor
unions, employee organizations and professional chambers, was marred
by disagreements from the beginning. Representatives from the
Confederation for Public Servants (KAMU-SEN) and the Turkish
Veterinary Union (TVHB) left the meeting saying that they were
against any amendments to Article 301.
TVHB Chairman Mehmet Alkan said after leaving the meeting that the
TVHB was against any amendments to the Article 301. `Turkish society
does not need an amendment on this. This is being imposed on us from
outside. Society does not have the will and wish for amendments to
Article 301. In my opinion, punishments for insulting Turkishness are
even less than they should be. Plus, in every country, there are
articles like this one,’ Alkan said.
Similarly, KAMU-SEN Chairman Bircan Akyýldýz echoed the idea that
amending Article 301 was being imposed from outside and claimed this
meant it was against the national will. Akyýldýz also added that the
government’s insistence on hearing from NGOs concerning Article 301
was questionable because when it came to other matters, for example
economic and social affairs, the government did not have the same
attitude.
Some criticized the fact that relevant NGOs were not invited to
yesterday’s meeting. Human Rights Association (ÝHD) Chairman Yusuf
Alataþ, who was not invited to the meeting, said that civil society
was a wide concept and if the subject was Article 301 it must be
discussed by relevant NGOs.
`There are two aspects of Article 301: one related to freedoms and
the other to laws. If there are to be any discussions, it must be
discussed by relevant organizations, not by professional chambers.
Otherwise we could easily think that either a solution is not desired
or there is a tailor-made solution in mind and others have been
invited to give approval to it.’
03.02.2007
AYÞE KARABAT ANKARA