TURKISH PUBLISHER FACES JAIL OVER ARMENIA BOOK
By Gareth Jones, Reuters
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 4 2007
A Turkish publisher could receive a jail sentence on Wednesday of up
to three years for insulting national identity under a law the European
Union says unfairly restricts freedom of speech and wants scrapped.
"Tomorrow’s hearing may bring a final verdict in my trial, which
began in 2005. The prosecutor wants the maximum penalty," publisher
Ragip Zarakolu told Reuters on Tuesday.
Prosecutors accuse Zarakolu of insulting "Turkishness" under
article 301 of Turkey’s penal code for publishing a Turkish language
translation of a book by London-based author George Jerjian called "The
Truth Will Set Us Free". The book urges reconciliation between Turks
and Armenians and covers the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks during World War One, a highly sensitive issue for Turkey.
Armenia, backed by many Western historians, says as many as 1.5 million
of its people suffered systematic genocide at Turkish hands at that
time. Turkey denies there was genocide and says many Muslim Turks as
well as Christian Armenians were killed in inter-ethnic conflict as
the Ottoman Empire collapsed under pressure of war.
Affirming that the killings amounted to genocide is a criminal offence
in Turkey. Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan Pamuk is among writers
prosecuted for his comments on the events of 1915-16, though he was
acquitted on a legal technicality.
"I am against all forms of restriction on free expression… I did
not even write this book, but Turkish people have a right to know
what Armenians think," said Zarakolu, head of the Belge International
Publishers.
Zarakolu said he would appeal against any conviction. He has often
been a target of Turkish prosecutors over the decades for his stance
on freedom of expression and for publishing books the authorities
have disapproved of.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s conservative government, under heavy
EU pressure, is mulling ways of amending article 301, though analysts
say the real problem lies not in the text but in the conservative
mindset of many judges and prosecutors.
"The government could have changed the law already. It is a very
dangerous article. If accusations depict writers and journalists as
traitors or enemies of Turkey, it is not so simple to be in front
of Turkish public opinion," said Zarakolu. "It opens the door to
our being lynched or killed by ultra-nationalist gangs," he said,
citing the example of prominent Turkish Armenian editor Hrant Dink
who was shot dead in Istanbul in January by an ultra-nationalist youth.
Dink had been handed a suspended jail sentence under article 301 for
his comments on the Armenian issue. Tens of thousands of people marched
through Istanbul at his funeral to protest against ultra-nationalist
violence.
Members of the European Parliament visiting Turkey this week said
article 301 was harming Turkey’s bid to join the EU. "This latest case
underlines that the Turkish government’s promise to reform article
301 cannot come too soon," Richard Howitt, a British Labor MEP,
said in a statement.
"Authors expressing peaceful views should never lead to imprisonment.
The Turkish government has understood this and it is now for the
Turkish parliament to pass, and for the Turkish courts to respect,"
he said.