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Turkish parliament passes free speech reform

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  • Turkish parliament passes free speech reform

    EUbusiness (press release), UK
    April 30 2008


    Turkish parliament passes free speech reform

    30 April 2008, 10:21 CET

    (ANKARA) - The Turkish parliament Wednesday passed a long-awaited
    amendment to a law penalising insults to "Turkishness" that has drawn
    strong EU criticism as a threat to free speech in the country.

    The amendment, softening Article 301 of the penal code, was adopted
    with the support of 250 MPs in the 550-member house at the end of an
    eight-hour debate that started Tuesday afternoon and continued
    throughout the night amid fierce opposition from nationalist deputies.

    Under the amendment, "Turkishness" -- a term criticised as too broad
    and vague -- was replaced with the "Turkish nation" and the envisaged
    jail term decreased from three to two years, allowing the sentence to
    be suspended or converted to a fine.

    In a bid to make trials under the law more difficult, the provision
    now requires the justice minister's approval before prosecutors can
    launch cases.

    Also, a section that called for increased sanctions for such crimes
    committed abroad was removed from the law.

    Dozens of intellectuals, including 2006 Nobel literature laureate
    Orhan Pamuk, have been tried under Article 301 and although some have
    been convicted, -- including slain ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant
    Dink -- their sentences were suspended and no one has been jailed so
    far.

    The article has mainly targeted people contesting the official line on
    the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire,
    which, much to Turkey's ire, many countries have recognised as
    genocide.

    The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, has long
    criticised the law as a threat to freedom of speech.

    European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said during a visit to
    Ankara earlier this month that the amendment plan was "a step in the
    right direction."

    The many critics of the article argue that the revision is inadequate
    and the provision should be scrapped altogether from the penal code.

    The EU has repeatedly warned Turkey that respect for free speech will
    be a test of its commitment to align with the bloc's democracy norms.

    Turkey has so far opened accession talks in only six of the 35 policy
    areas that candidates are required to complete amid a row over the
    Mediterranean island of Cyprus and strong opposition to its membership
    in some EU countries.
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