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Rajib Zarakolu: "To Be More Credible, The EU Should Be More Demandin

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  • Rajib Zarakolu: "To Be More Credible, The EU Should Be More Demandin

    RAGIP ZARAKOLU : "TO BE MORE CREDIBLE, THE EU SHOULD BE MORE DEMANDING OF TURKEY."

    AZG Armenian Daily
    08/10/2008

    Europe-Armenia-Turkey

    Well known Turkish dissident expresses concern over the EU's
    abandonment of Turkish intellectuals.

    Prosecutions have been authorized against 30+ dissidents since the
    "reform" of article 301.

    At the invitation of the European Armenian Federation, Ragip Zarakolu,
    the well known Turkish dissident, paid a visit to Brussels after an
    appearance in Amsterdam, where he was honoured with the Freedom of
    Expression award, granted by the International Publishers Association
    (cf speech here). On the occasion, the European Armenian Federation
    organized meetings between Mr Zarakolu and several political leaders of
    the European Union - Commission members, representatives of the French
    presidency and European MEPs. These meetings gave Mr Zarakolu the
    opportunity to share the current reality in Turkey with several members
    of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the presidency of the
    EU-Turkey Interparliamentary Delegation (pictures available here).

    Mr. Zarakolu stated that the freedom of expression has regressed in
    Turkey. He argued that Â" in 1997 and in 2000, people who published
    on the Armenian genocide were prosecuted but acquitted Â" while Â"
    they are nowadays condemned Â".

    He shared that the 7/2 and 8 articles of the anti-terror law are
    increasingly being used against the mass media, especially when
    the Kurdish question is tackled in term of political, cultural
    and collective rights. Regarding article 301, its history "is
    intertwined with that of his trial", he reiterated the position of
    Turkish intellectuals a who believe that this article is Â"completely
    incompatible with democracy and must be completely abrogated".

    Regarding the Turkish judiciary system, Ragip Zarakolu and Joost
    Lagendijk, the chairperson of the EU-Turkey Interparliamentary
    Delegation - the latter being an unconditional supporter of Turkish
    accession despite the fact he was prosecuted under article 301 too -
    deplored that "the European programme which aims at improving the
    judiciary system have worked for magistrates from Eastern Europe but
    doesn't work for Turkish magistrates" and "those who today pronounce
    indictments under article 301 are those who still had following
    European training courses".

    In general, Mr. Zarakolu criticized the Turkish government's
    opportunistic policy that "does not authorize prosecutions when
    there is a risk of harming the international image of Turkey" but
    that authorizes those against intellectuals who are not well-known
    in the Western countries".

    Mr. Zarakolu, as the president of the Committee for Freedom of
    Publication, also presented the 2008 report on freedom of expression
    in Turkey published by the Turkish Association of Publishers, and
    revealed that according to official figures from the Turkish Minister
    of Justice, prosecutions against 36 people have been authorized in
    accordance with article 301 since its "reform".

    He called on the Union "to be firmer in its principles" and to demand
    of Turkey "concrete improvements". Contrary to the media figures
    promoted by the Turkish government, he concluded saying that "a stiffer
    approach by the Union is the only solution to make Turkey progress"
    by criticizing the fact that Turkey "is reluctant to make reforms"
    and tries to obtain "special rights in Europe".

    "We call on the European Union to give all its support to the struggle
    of these men and women - dissidents - prosecuted and threatened with
    the Turkish government's complicity", commented Hilda Tchoboian,
    the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.

    The European Armenian Federation is acting in Europe in support of
    the important re-examination of the Human Rights situation in Turkey
    and Turkey's breaches of the European Union accession criteria

    P.S. Ragip Zarakolu is a publisher and one of the founding members of
    the Turkish Association for Human Rights. He was on trial under article
    301 for his publications on Turkish taboos (Armenian genocide, Kurdish
    question, role of the army in political life, torture...). In June
    2008, he was the very first person to be convicted under article 301 of
    the Turkish Penal Code, less than a week after "it had been reformed".

    --Boundary_(ID_YbFHp03GYJaq35vD+A p8mw)--
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