ANOTHER TURKISH AUTHOR TRIED FOR INSULTING NATIONAL IDENTITY
Katerina Ossenova
JURIST, Univ. of Pittsburgh, School of Law
Oct 5 2006
[JURIST] Another Turkish author went on trial Thursday on charges
[AP report] that he "insulted the Turkish identity" in violation of
Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder] of the country’s penal code. Ipek
Calislar wrote that the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, once left his palace disguised as a woman to evade an
assassination attempt. Calislar faces 4.5 years in prison if convicted.
Turkey [JURIST news archive; CIA backgrounder] is seeking membership
to the European Union (EU) [official website], which has urged that
Article 301 be abolished [JURIST report] because it infringes upon the
freedom of expression. Despite revising portions of the penal code
[JURIST report] last year, Turkish leaders have no immediate plans
to make further changes to the law. Turkish novelists Elif Shafak
[personal website], Hrant Dink and Orhan Pamuk [JURIST news archive]
have all been charged under Article 301 for discussing the alleged
Armenian genocide. Shafak was acquitted and Pamuk’s charges were
dismissed [JURIST reports], while Dink faces a retrial [JURIST report].