ANKARA MOVES TO AMEND INFAMOUS ARTICLE 301

European Report
November 8, 2007

In response to the European Commission’s decision to suspend opening
negotiations with Turkey on one of the most important policy areas
covering the judiciary and human rights, the government in Ankara has
decided to change the controversial article 301 of the Penal Code,
which restricts freedom of expression. Turkey’s Justice Minister
Mehmet Ali Sahin said on 6 November that a new bill would be put
before the parliament "soon".

"Several drafts have been prepared in line with proposals by civic
groups. The cabinet will discuss them at the first opportunity,
select one and submit it to parliament," said Sahin to the Anatolia
news agency. His statement came just hours after the EU’s Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rehn said that restrictions on freedom of expression
stemming from Article 301, which makes it a crime to insult Turkish
national identity, were blocking Turkey’s progress towards EU
membership. Presenting Turkey’s annual report on progress towards EU
membership, Rehn warned that chapter 23 covering the judiciary and
human rights would onlybe opened for negotiations if Turkey repeals
or changes the much-criticised article of its penal code. The article
made it possible for prosecutors to put the Nobel Prize-winning author
Orhan Pamuk and the Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink on trial for
referring to the 1915 mass killings of Armenians. "It is not acceptable
that writers, journalists, academics and other intellectuals … are
prosecuted for simply expressing a critical but completely non-violent
opinion," said Rehn. The Commission is demanding that the provisions
of Article 301 be brought into line with the European Convention
on Human Rights and case law of the European Court of Human Rights,
the benchmarks for the protection of human rights in Europe.