MEP SIGNALS EU IMPATIENCE WITH TURKISH RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Hurriyet
Feb 11 2008
Turkey

A senior member of the European Parliament urged Turkey on Monday to
amend a much-criticised law restricting freedom of speech, warning
that European Union patience is "running out".

Joost Lagendijk, co-chairman of a joint Turkey-EU parliamentary
commission, made the appeal outside an Istanbul court where he attended
the third hearing of the trial of 19 suspects for the 2007 murder of
ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

"The EUs patience is running out… What we expect from Turkish
leaders is not nice declarations but realistic moves," he said.

Article 301 of the penal code provides up to four years in jail for
"insulting Turkishness". Dink, who had been convicted under the Article
301 for saying 1915 events were "genocide", was shot dead on January
19, 2007, outside his office in central Istanbul.

"If the case is not handled in a proper way, it will leave a stain,
a dirty spot on Turkeys image in Europe," Lagendijk said, urging
the Turkish authorities to also uncover the "guys behind the scene"
in Dink’s murder.

Officials said last month that a draft amendment was ready to be
presented to parliament, but action remains to be taken as the
government is focused on a highly controversial reform abolishing a
ban on the Islamic headscarf in universities.

EU wants (Turkish) government to take the necessary steps not only for
the young girls who want to put their headscarves on but also for those
students who want freedom of speech, Lagendijk said when asked about
the controversial law that eases the headscarf ban at the universities.