H?Ã?¼rriyet, Turkey
Jan 10 2009

Prosecutors probe apology campaign

ISTANBUL – A Turkish prosecutor has launched an investigation that
could lead to criminal charges against the authors of an online
apology for the World War 1 killings of Armenians, the Anatolia news
agency reported Friday.

The state prosecutor in Ankara is probing whether the group of
intellectuals who offered the apology violated Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes "insulting the Turkish people,"
Anatolia reported.

The group under investigation set up an online apology in December for
the "catastrophe" Armenians experienced more than 90 years ago, a
topic still sensitive in Turkey.

European Union applicant Turkey has promised to expand political
freedoms, such as free speech, and improve minority rights to meet the
bloc’s human rights criteria for membership.

Turkey changed Article 301 last year in response to EU criticism and
the law requires the justice minister to approve any court case, but
conviction still carries a jail sentence.

The group of writers, academics and other intellectuals set up a
petition at (we are sorry), that offered
Armenians a personal apology.

The statement did not refer to the killings as genocide, a term
strongly opposed in Ankara, but the army and Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdo?Ä?an slammed those involved. Turkey proposes the setting
up of a council of historians to determine the incidents of 1915.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said last month that the online petition
could undermine efforts to improve relations with neighboring Armenia,
with which Turkey has no diplomatic ties.

The two sides launched talks last year on normalizing relations.

Turkey in the past has prosecuted academics and authors, including
Nobel Prize-winning writer Orhan Pamuk, for remarks criticizing the
official stance on the Armenian issue.