Reuters, UK
Dec 26 2007

Turkey prepares to amend free speech law

None hurt as Turkey bombs Northern Iraq
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey is preparing to amend a controversial law
on freedom of speech that has been criticised repeatedly by the
European Union and could slow EU accession talks with Brussels.

The justice ministry will hand the draft amendment to article 301 of
the penal code, which makes it an offence to "insult Turkishness", to
the cabinet within 15 days, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin told
reporters on Tuesday.

It was not clear when the cabinet would approve the amendment.

Article 301 has been used to prosecute Turkish writers and thinkers,
notably for comments on the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 under
the Ottoman Empire.

Two years ago the government tried Nobel literature laureate Orhan
Pamuk under article 301 for his remarks on the events of 1915-16, but
he was acquitted on a legal technicality.

The European Commission’s annual progress report on Turkey, published
in November, called on Ankara to make "significant further efforts"
on freedom of expression and religion, and noted that more people had
been prosecuted under article 301 last year than in 2005.

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has recommended that the EU not
extend accession talks to the key areas of justice and human rights
until the article is changed.

Critics say Turkey’s centre-right government is dragging its feet,
fearing that amending the law could spark a nationalist backlash at a
time when EU membership is becoming less popular among Turks.

EU officials said the law was poisoning Turkey’s relations with
Armenia and weighing on the media and non-government organisations in
Turkey.

Ankara began EU accession negotiations in 2005 but the EU suspended
talks last December on eight of the 35 chapters or policy areas into
which EU law is divided after Ankara refused to open its ports and
airports to traffic from Cyprus.

(Reporting by Hidir Goktas, writing by Paul de Bendern, editing by
Tim Pearce)