MIXED RESPONSE FOR FREE SPEECH REFORM IN TURKEY
Euronews.net, France
April 30 2008
Turkey’s parliament has voted to amend a controversial law which
the European Union has criticised for restricting free speech. But
pro-reformers say the softening of Article 301 of the penal code does
not go far enough.
The article has been used to prosecute hundreds of writers for
"insulting Turkishness," among them the Nobel Literature Laureate
Orhan Pamuk. His comments on the mass killing of Kurds and Armenians
infuriated Turkish nationalists. But following an international outcry,
the charges against him were dropped.
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was convicted under Article
301. His remarks on the alleged "genocide" of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks earned him death threats from nationalists. In January last year,
he was murdered in Istanbul.
The EU says easing limits on free speech is a test of would-be member
Turkey’s commitment to political reform. And Dink’s murder strengthened
reformers’ resolve to get Article 301 scrapped.
Decried by the far-Right as a betrayal of the country’s identity,
the revision is merely cosmetic say critics on the other side of the
political spectrum.
Changes include making it a crime to insult the Turkish nation,
rather than Turkishness.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
