ARTICLE 301 THREATENS THE INITIATORS OF THE ONLINE APOLOGY PETITION
armradio.am
22.01.2009 14:36
Article 301 is in play again. This time it is threatening the online
Armenian apology petition launched by some intellectuals to express
remorse for the events of 1915, Hyrriyet Daily reports.
The article is the part of the Turkish penal code that criminalizes
insulting Turkishness. It was watered down after intense pressure
from the European Union last year and now requires approval before
a case can be pursued.
Ankara’s prosecutor Nadi Turkaslan, assigned to monitoring the media,
is examining whether there is a need to start an investigation against
the people who signed the "I Apologize to Armenians" petition after
six citizens filed a joint criminal complaint. Petitioners apologize,
for their part, to Armenians for the "Great Catastrophe that Ottoman
Armenians were subject to in 1915." The act of apologizing is an
insult to Turkishness, according to the complainants.