ARMENIAN BILL NO EXCUSE FOR ARTICLE 301
By Zaman, Istanbul
Sabah, Turkey
Oct 18 2006
Hansjorg Kretschmer, head of European Commission Delegation to
Turkey, said that a bill recently passed by the French parliament
criminalizing the denial of the purported Armenian genocide should not
be used as an excuse to keep Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code,
which restricts the freedom of expression.
Kretschmer made his last speech on Tuesday as the head of European
Commission Delegation to Turkey.
Kretschmer said the Turkish government must make more progress in
the areas of human rights and basic freedoms, religious freedoms,
women’s rights, relations between civilians and military officials,
and an independent justice system.
Kretschemer said the likelihood of Turkey becoming an EU member
depended on Turkey itself rather than the European Union
He said that as with all other military officials, the Turkish military
officials had also come to the realization that the battle with
terrorism was not done only with guns, because there were cultural,
political, as well as economic dimensions to the problems at hand.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
