TURKISH PRESIDENT CALLS FOR CHANGES TO CONTROVERSIAL LAW ON INSULTING TURKISH IDENTITY

AP
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria
Oct 3 2007

STRASBOURG, France (AP) – Turkish President Abdullah Gul called
Wednesday for changes to a law that makes it a crime to insult Turkish
identity _ legislation the European Union wants the country to scrap.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and slain ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink are among those prosecuted under the
controversial law. But Turkey, though aspiring to join the EU, so
far has resisted pressure to strike it from its legal code.

"We know there are problems with regard to Article 301. There’s still
room for improvement and there are changes to be enacted in the period
ahead," Gul told reporters at the Council of Europe. "I support the
idea of Article 301 to change.

Gul has said the law damages Turkey’s image by portraying it as a
country where intellectuals are jailed for speaking their opinion.

On Wednesday, he lamented an "unfair perception" that people were
imprisoned because of the law, insisting that Turkey ensures freedom
of speech.

"No one is going to prison for expressing their view freely," he said
in a question-and-answer session with parliamentarians from the human
rights watchdog’s 47 member states.

Gul gave no timeframe for changes to the law but said the government is
committed to improving its rights record _ an issue that has stymied
Turkey’s bid to join the 27-nation EU.

Gul, formerly Turkey’s foreign minister, said his country is more
tolerant and democratic today than five years ago, when the country
launched widespread social and judicial reforms.

"All forms of discrimination are banned. Legal and constitutional
guarantees on the right to association and assembly are reinforced.

Cultural and religious rights have been upgraded," Gul told the Council
of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly during his first visit to western
Europe since becoming president in August.

His election came after months of controversy over the prime minister’s
decision to nominate Gul, from the Islamic-rooted AK Party, to a post
traditionally held by a secularist.

Turkey’s EU membership talks began in 2005, but human rights, a
dispute over divided Cyprus and other issues have slowed the bid.

Also during his visit, Gul warned against any territorial division of
Iraq. A U.S. Senate proposal calls for a limited centralized Iraqi
government with most of the power distributed among the country’s
ethnically divided regions.

"One should not fall into the illusion that the current problems can
be overcome by the partition of Iraq," he said. "This would be the
worst scenario for the people of Iraq and the whole region.

He also warned that Turkey would carry out a cross-border offensive
into neighboring northern Iraq to eliminate Kurdish rebels’ bases
there. Rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, has fought
a decades-long insurgency for more autonomy in Turkey.

"The terrorist organization PKK continues to use the north of Iraq as a
safe haven and perpetrate violent acts across the boundary," Gul said.