GOV’T LAUNCHES LONG-AWAITED DRIVE TO AMEND 301

Today’s Zaman
April 8 2008
Turkey

After years of foot dragging, the government eventually submitted a
proposal to Parliament to amend Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK), stipulating that future prosecution under the infamous law
will require permission from the president.

Government spokesman Cemil Cicek, speaking after a Cabinet meeting,
said the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was ready
to ask Parliament for amendments to Article 301, which has been used
in the prosecution of intellectuals, journalists and activists for
"insulting Turkishness." It was not immediately clear when the
Parliament would vote on the bill.

The law has been subject to harsh criticism from the European Union,
which says it restricts free speech; Turkey’s Nobel Prize-winning
novelist Orhan Pamuk has been tried under Article 301, and journalist
Hrant Dink, tried and convicted under the same law, was killed in
2007 by a teenage hitman who said he had killed the ethnic Armenian
editor for insulting Turks. But the government’s unwillingness
to change Article 301 despite more than two years of mounting EU
and domestic calls has proven to be a major obstacle for progress
in Turkey’s EU accession process and led to questions over the AK
Party rule’s commitment to reform. The government’s eventual step to
change Article 301 comes amid mounting pressure from its staunchly
secularist opponents at home, who filed a closure case against the AK
Party on charges of becoming a focal point for anti-secular activities
last month.

The AK Party appears to have decided to strike back with a package of
reforms, including those long sought by the EU, as well as a couple
of constitutional amendments to make party closures more difficult.

One of the major amendments proposed by the AK Party states that
future prosecution under Article 301 will require permission from the
president. Earlier proposals said the permission should be issued by
the justice minister or by a committee of specialists. "The predominant
inclination among the AK Party is that president’s permission should
be sought," Cicek told reporters.

He explained that the president would decide not on whether the
alleged crime has been committed or not but on whether such a court
trial would be in the public interest or not.

Cicek also said some changes are planned in the text of the article
in accordance with proposals from legal specialists. The text of
the law is expected to be changed to stipulate that "insulting the
Turkish Republic" will be criminalized, instead of the vague notion
of "insulting Turkishness." The maximum prison term, currently three
years, is also expected to be reduced to two years to make it difficult
for those prosecuted under Article 301 to serve jail time.

The TCK states that prison sentences of up to two years can be commuted
to suspended sentences.

Reform package

The government has dismissed reports that it is preparing a special
package of reforms to save the party from closure, saying instead
that its efforts are guided by a national program for EU-inspired
reforms that Turkey is preparing to set out what reform steps will
be taken when.

"We are currently preparing a national program. It will set out the
short-term, medium-term and long-term reform priorities for Turkey,"
Babacan told reporters at a joint press conference with visiting
Laotian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun
Sisoulith. "It will also set out a calendar for us for political
reforms."

Asked to comment on reports that the Prime Ministry’s
Secretariat-General for EU Affairs has drafted a list of reforms that
should be passed immediately, Cicek said the government had no list
of priorities. "Our commitments stem from the national program," he
said. The national program will be released mid-year and will specify
which reforms will be carried out before the current legislative year
in Parliament ends in three months and which ones will be delayed to
the next legislative session, said Babacan.

The AK Party’s efforts to reform Article 301 are unlikely to receive
support from the two main opposition parties, namely the Republican
People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP),
but the ruling party has enough members in Parliament to pass the
changes alone.

Media reports say the MHP will lobby against amendments to Article
301 and has allocated some $2 million to fund lobbying efforts.

Babacan said the government was determined to go ahead with reforms
despite objections that might arise.

"We are determined on the issue of reforms. No matter how hard they
are, we believe reforms are important for Turkey’s future. They are
important for the expansion of basic rights and freedoms and the
deepening of democracy," he said.