OSCE REPRESENTATIVE SLAMS ARTICLE 301
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.01.2010 17:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE representative on freedom of media has
criticized the Turkish government for its stance on controversial
Article 301 of the country’s Penal Code (TCK), describing it as a sword
of Damocles hanging over Turkish democracy, Today’s Zaman reported.
Miklos Haraszti, speaking at a conference at Bilgi University in
Ä°stanbul, noted the role of Article 301 in preventing further
improvements in freedom of speech and democratic standards in the
country,
"Despite all the progress, we have observed a reluctance of Turkish
authorities to fully liberalize the Turkish media. … A few years
ago the Turkish Penal Code was amended. However, Article 301 has been
hanging over media freedom. Why has the government not taken the step
of abolishing this article? It knows how the article contradicts
liberal democratic principles. I think the reason is political,"
the newspaper quoted Haraszti as saying.
Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code envisages criminal liability for
"insulting the Turkish nation." Before the current government passed
an amendment to the article, the crime of "insulting Turkishness" was
far more serious and broadly prosecuted, which led to the conviction
of many intellectuals, including writer, Nobel Prize Winner Orhan
Pamuk and Editor-in-Chief of Turkish-Armenian newspaper Hrant Dink.
The former was forced to flee the country to avoid prosecution
while the latter was assassinated near his office in Istanbul in
January 2007.
OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) is the
world’s biggest regional organization dealing with security issues. It
unites 56 countries situated in North America, Europe and Central Asia.
The organization’s member are: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Malta¸ Moldova, Monaco Montenegro,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Roumania, San-Marino,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan,
Turkey, Turkmenistan, United States, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vatican.
Partner countries include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Japan,
Jordan, Marocco, Mongolia, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia.
Armenia became an OSCE member state on January 30, 1992.