THE AMENDED ARTICLE 301 SOON TO COME TO TURKISH PARLIAMENT

MEMRI, DC
Jan 9 2008

The motion for the amended Article 301 in the Turkish Criminal
Code – which the European Union says stifles freedom of speech –
is expected to be brought to the parliament in the coming days. The
controversial Article 301 that makes it a crime to insult Turkishness
and the Turkish state, has led to the prosecution of many writers,
journalists and intellectuals such as the Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk
and the assassinated Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

The European Commission’s annual progress report on Turkey, published
in November, called on Ankara to make "significant efforts" on freedom
of expression.