ARTICLE 301 SUMMIT WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
By Abdulhamit Bilici, Isa Sezen
Zaman, Turkey
Nov 5 2006
Turkey’s business world and professional organizations have taken
action to prevent any possible interruption in Turkey’s European
Union membership process.
Leading non-governmental organizations in the country are preparing
to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the
controversial Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
More than 10 institutions, including the Turkish Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen
Association (TUSIAD), HAK-IS, and IKV have reached a consensus on what
should be done about Article 301. The group began a study 15 days ago
as Turkey’s EU process is reaching a critical stage over this issue.
The 10-page joint document, revised by jurists, will be submitted
to Prime Minister Erdogan today. The document suggests a revision of
the article in accordance with international standards, rather than
an abolishment.
After intensive negotiations before reaching a final consensus, TOBB
Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu said that the document would make an
important contribution to the problem’s solution.
While representatives from some institutions stressed that Article
301 should be changed in accordance with international norms, other
organizations insisted on the abolishment of the article.
Representatives will visit Erdogan today and submit the document.
Turkey’s chief negotiator Ali Babacan and Justice Minister Cemil
Cicek will also be available during this meeting.
Article 301 gained wide-spread notoriety after criminal lawsuits were
filed against novelists Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak for "insulting
Turkishness." Both cases ended in the acquittal of the novelists.
A criminal charge under the Turkish Penal Code, the article has
been used by some lawyers who take issue with what some writers and
journalists have written or said; especially about Turkey’s ‘Kurdish
question’ or an Armenian genocide.