"insulting Turkish identity"

[Reincarnated Am]

Letter to chancellor of Austria, new holder of the EU presidency, about violations of

Letter to chancellor of Austria, new holder of the EU presidency, about violations of free expression in Turkey

In a letter to Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel of Austria, which has held the European Union presidency since 1 January, Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about recent attacks on press freedom in Turkey and has asked him to use his influence with the authorities in Ankara to convince them to amend articles 301 and 305 of the criminal code, under which journalists can be sent to prison for the views they express.

Paris, 3 January 2006

Dear Chancellor Schüssel,

Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends press freedom worldwide, would like to share with you its concern about the threats to free expression in Turkey, a country which has started talks on possible joining the European Union. We are worried about the arbitrary use of Turkish criminal code, especially article 301 on “humiliation of the Turkish identity, the republic and state bodies and institutions,” to censor dissent.

More than twenty journalists, writers and editors are currently being prosecuted in Turkey, most of them under this article. The cases of Hrant Dink and Orhan Pamuk are representative of the persistent threats from the authorities and nationalistic lawyers to those who refer to certain episodes in Turkish history.

On 24 December, the prosecutor’s office in Sisli (Istanbul) initiated new proceedings against Mr. Dink, the editor of the Armenian-language weekly Agos, for allegedly trying to influence the course of justice in an article published after his first trial in October, in which he was given a suspended sentence of six months in prison under article 301. He will be tried in February and faces four to five years in prison.

Mr. Pamuk, a leading writer, is accused under article 301 of “insulting Turkish identity” by telling a Swiss weekly that “one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in this country but no one dares to say so except me.” His trial, originally set for 16 December, has been postponed until 7 February. He faces up to three years in prison. Meanwhile, the authorities decided on 29 December to take no action on a complaint that was brought against him by a group of nationalistic lawyers accusing him of “openly attacking the army’s image.”

Sinan Kara of the fortnightly Datça Haber was sentenced on 19 October to nine months in prison for "insulting by means of the press" under article 125 of the criminal code.

Reporters Without Borders has had occasion in the past to stress the ubiquity of certain taboos that constitute a constant impediment to free expression in Turkey. We have also often had occasion to be alarmed by vaguely-worded articles in the criminal code. Anyone, whether the government, the army, can make arbitrary use of these articles to attack journalists who refer to certain painful or controversial events in Turkish history such as the Armenian genocide, the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Cyprus, the relations between the army and the government, or the Kurdish question.

On 26 December, 169 intellectuals and performing artists called on the government to repeal articles 301 and 305 of the criminal code on the grounds that they are incompatible with the right to free expression and are obstructing democratisation in Turkey.

Responding to the criticism, Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gül recognised on 28 December that the charges brought against Mr. Pamuk had harmed Turkey’s image and said the laws restricting free expression could be modified.

The hopes pinned on the new criminal code that took effect in June have in part been dashed. Your role, as leader of the government that currently holds the European Union presidency, will therefore be decisive in establishing real freedom of expression in Turkey.

We are aware of your commitment to press freedom and we therefore urge you to intercede with the authorities in Ankara, especially at meetings about the membership process, in order to stop the criminalization of dissident views. In the light of recent events, we believe that progress in the talks on Turkey’s membership should be conditioned on amendments to certain provisions of the Turkish criminal code, especially articles 301 and 305, in order to ensure that journalists and intellectuals enjoy the kind of freedom of speech that is worthy of a democracy, and in order to make Turkey’s laws conform to European and international standards.

We trust you will give this matter your careful consideration.

Sincerely,

Robert Ménard, Secretary General

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16096

[Hovik]

Court fines writers for insulting Turkey

Court fines writers for insulting Turkey

ISTANBUL, 23 DECEMBER A court in Istanbul yesterday fined an author and a journalist for insulting the Turkish state. Writer Zulkuf Kisanak was fined approximately 2.000 euro, because in one of his book he accused the Turkish army for destroying a Kurdish village. The journalist Aziz Oser who has cast doubt on the official Turkish denial of the Genocide of Armenians, was fined of 4.000 euro. According to the judge they have broken the same Article of the Penal Code as the prominent autor Orhan Pamuk, who is still on trial. He is charged because he wrote about the Turkish Genocide of the Armenian population during the World War I. AP


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Associated Press
Dec 22, 3:11 PM EST

Turkish Writers Fined for Insulting State

By SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press Writer

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- An Istanbul court fined an author and a journalist Thursday for insulting the Turkish state, the latest convictions under a law that European officials say limits freedom of expression and must be changed.

Turkey's government has indicated that it has no plans to change the law, under which the country's most famous novelist, Orhan Pamuk, was also charged.

"Freedoms are not limitless, in freedom there's a definite limit," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview broadcast live on CNN-Turk television Wednesday evening.

Zulkuf Kisanak, the author of "Lost Villages," was sentenced to five months in prison, which was immediately converted to a $2,200 fine. Aziz Ozer, editor of the far-left monthly magazine Yeni Dunya Icin Cagri, received a 10-month prison term, which the judge later switched to a $4,400 fine.

Both men were fined under a law which makes it a crime to insult the Turkish republic, "Turkishness" or state institutions. The law has soured relations with the European Union, which insists that Turkey - which began EU membership negotiations in October - do more to protect freedom of expression.

Pamuk was charged with insulting the country after telling a Swiss newspaper in February that "30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it."

Kisanak's book tells the story of 14 Kurdish villages that were forcibly evacuated by the Turkish military in the early 1990s, during the height of clashes between Turkish troops and autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels. Human rights groups say Turkish security forces burned down thousands of Kurdish villages as part of a strategy to clear the countryside and deny the guerrillas local support.

Kisanak said he would appeal Thursday's ruling.

"I do not believe that I insulted the state," he told The Associated Press. "My book was based on concrete events, backed by documents and photographs."

"My book is about villages that were evacuated and the tragedies that unfolded," he said.

Ozer was sentenced for two articles - "80 Years of the Turkish Republic, 80 Years of Fascism" and "No to a Partnership of Invasion in Iraq" that were published in his magazine.

Ozer said he would appeal Thursday's ruling, saying prosecutors have brought against him some 20 lawsuits related to freedom of expression.

Erdogan, in his remarks late Wednesday, said all countries limit freedom of expression in some way and that the much-criticized Article 301 of the new Turkish penal code did that for Turkey.

He also accused those criticizing the law and calling for such cases to be dropped of putting pressure on the courts and thus violating the Turkish constitution, which mandates independent courts.

"People can express their opinions without putting the courts under pressure, but putting the courts under pressure is very, very ugly," Erdogan said.

Last week, a group of observers from the European Parliament demanded that Turkey change Article 301 or risk putting its EU bid in jeopardy.

The EU parliament members have vowed to attend Pamuk's freedom of expression trial until its conclusion. The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 7.

Pamuk's remarks highlighted two of the most painful episodes in Turkish history: the massacre of Armenians during World War I - which Turkey insists was not a planned genocide - and recent guerrilla fighting in Turkey's overwhelmingly Kurdish southeast.

[Gavur]

Petition in European Parliament Seeks to Apply Increased Pressure on Turkey

(Marmara)--European Parliament members have begun a petition drive that calls for pressuring Turkey to drop charges against Turkish author Orhan Pamuk.

Heading the effort are Greek Members of Parliament Panagiotis Beglitis and Dimitrios Papadimoulis, and Germany's Feleknas Uca. Their statement calls for an end to not only Pamuk's trial, but also that of Editor Hrant Dink and Publisher Ragip Zarakoglu. The three are charged with "denigrating Turkish identity."

While Dink, the editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was convicted in October of "denigrating Turkish identity," and received a six month suspended sentence, he now faces charges of attempting to influence the judiciary for saying that he would leave the country if the case against him was not dropped.

Pamuk faced up to three years in prison for saying to a Swiss newspaper in February that Turkey is unwilling to deal with painful episodes in its treatment of the country's Armenian minority or its continuing problems with its 12 million Kurdish citizens.

Following intense international condemnation, Pamuk's December 16, 2005, trial was quickly halted when the presiding judge decided the court would need the approval of the Justice Ministry for the trial to proceed. The next hearing is scheduled for February 7, 2006.

The head of the Istanbul-based Belge International Publishers, Zarakoglu is charged with "insulting and undermining the State" for publishing Dora Sakayan's book "Garabet Hacheryan's Izmir Journal: An Armenian Doctor's Experiences" and George Jerjian's book "History Will Free Us All--Turkish-Armenian Conciliation."

The petition also calls on the European Parliament to closely follow developments in Turkey's judicial system and ensure reforms of objectionable penal codes.

Half of the 732 Members of Parliament must sign the petition in order for the body to accept the document.

[Gavur]

Turkey throws out case against author Pamuk

Istanbul court has dropped charges against prominent author Orhan Pamuk, who was charged with "denigrating the Turkish national identity" over remarks he made about the mass killings of Armenians during World War I, CNN-Turk television reported.
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The trial of Pamuk, Turkey's most famous writer, which began last December, had been adjourned pending a decision by the justice ministry, whose authorization was needed to continue the case.
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CNN-Turk said the ministry had declared in a letter to the tribunal that it was legally not competent to judge whether the case should go on, and the court had thus decided to dismiss the case.
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Pamuk, who has won several international literary prizes, risked up to three years in prison for remarks made during an interview published in a Swiss magazine last February.
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"One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares talk about it," he told Das Magazin in February.
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Turkey categorically denies Armenian accusations that up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a genocide orchestrated by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.
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The case against Pamuk, praised by Turkish nationalists, drew condemnations from the European Union, which warned it was a test of freedom of speech in Turkey. Some EU lawmakers who attended the December hearing said the trial could affect the country's aspirations to join the bloc.
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Pamuk's lawyer could not be reached to confirm the television report.
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The trial had been set to resume on February 7. — AFP An Istanbul court has dropped charges against prominent author Orhan Pamuk, who was charged with "denigrating the Turkish national identity" over remarks he made about the mass killings of Armenians during World War I, CNN-Turk television reported.
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The trial of Pamuk, Turkey's most famous writer, which began last December, had been adjourned pending a decision by the justice ministry, whose authorization was needed to continue the case.
.
CNN-Turk said the ministry had declared in a letter to the tribunal that it was legally not competent to judge whether the case should go on, and the court had thus decided to dismiss the case.
.
Pamuk, who has won several international literary prizes, risked up to three years in prison for remarks made during an interview published in a Swiss magazine last February.
.
"One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares talk about it," he told Das Magazin in February.
.
Turkey categorically denies Armenian accusations that up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a genocide orchestrated by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.
.
The case against Pamuk, praised by Turkish nationalists, drew condemnations from the European Union, which warned it was a test of freedom of speech in Turkey. Some EU lawmakers who attended the December hearing said the trial could affect the country's aspirations to join the bloc.
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Pamuk's lawyer could not be reached to confirm the television report.
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The trial had been set to resume on February 7. — AFP

[1.5 million]

too bad this case was dropped - I had hoped that this farce of Turkish political theater would go on and further illustrate the lies and twisting of reality of Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide.

[Gavur]

Pamuk case dropped but-"Same bucket,Same bathhouse"

'Turkey Would be Harmed in Judicial Process'
By Selcuk Gultasli, Brussels
Published: Monday, January 23, 2006
zaman.com


The European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-chair, Joost Lagendijk, expressed concern over Turkey being harmed during the judicial process initiated against himself on the grounds of insulting the Turkish Military and influencing the judiciary in the Orhan Pamuk case.

The European Parliament (EP) President, Joseph Borrell, emphasized some ill-minded groups are intent on "breaking-off" Turkey-EU relations and asked not to fall into this, in a letter he sent to EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn and to EP political party leaders.




Lagendijk was concerned he would be detained during his visit to Turkey, and says this concern was not for himself, but for the damage to Turkey 's image. "Turkey should not be worn down even further," he stressed.




The EP member from the Greek-Cypriot Administration, Marios Matsakis, was arrested in Turkish Cyprus, consequently, Ankara began to scrutinize the immunity of MEPs and determined MEPs were benefiting from their immunity status in Turkey. The Foreign Ministry has reportedly informed related posts in the EP on the issue.


The Dutch parliamentarian said he is concerned about being taken into custody when he returns Turkey for the case next month, and said "This is not a problem for me, but Turkey has been damaged enough by the Pamuk case and the investigation opened against me will only stress it even more. If I am taken into custody, I will be sorry for Turkey, not for myself." Lagendijk said he expects to receive a document the EP prepared on immunity in a few days' time. Lagendijk sent another letter about the issue to EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. The Dutch parliamentarian, during a telephone conversation with Rehn, asked the European Commission not to exaggerate the issue.


Lagendijk, in the letter he wrote to the EP Chairman, pointed out Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the Pamuk case and the investigation opened against him damaged Turkey's image as much as the movie the Midnight Express did. Lagendijk said the Turkish public opinion understood the investigation aims at creating trouble for the efforts being made for Turkey's EU membership in and outside of Turkey, and asked both the parliament and the Commission not to make an official statement about the investigation. The Beyoglu Republican Chief Prosecutor's Office taking action following a complaint of Kemal Kerincsiz, member of the Union of Jurists, and two others, opened an inquiry into Lagendijk on December 27 on the grounds that "he degraded the Turkish Armed Forces and influenced the judicial process in the Pamuk case." Lagendijk, who came to Istanbul in order to observe the Pamuk case, expressed the subject of the inquiry during a press statement made on December 17 after the Pamuk hearing.

[Gavur]

Pamuk Concerned Over Other Trials Against Those "insulting Turkish Identity"

YEREVAN, JANUARY 23. ARMINFO. Well-known Turkish writer Organ Pamuk's
translator and friend, Maureen Freely, told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme that the author was overjoyed that the case had been dropped.

But she said other similar trials were still due to take place
in Turkey.

"In two weeks time there are going to be eight new trials opening and
our concern is that, because Orhan is no longer part of this group,
that there will be less international pressure," she said.

"In fact there should be more international pressure, because there's
a real chance that we can convince the government that it should
drop these laws altogether and turn Turkey into a democracy along
European lines."

The case stems from a magazine interview last year in which Mr Pamuk
said: "One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these
lands and nobody but me dares talk about it."

[Hovik]

Pamuk Case: Prosecution's Withdrawal Should Trigger The End Of Anti-armenian Laws

EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION
for Justice and Democracy

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
January 25, 2006
Contact: Vartenie ECHO


PAMUK CASE: PROSECUTION'S WITHDRAWAL SHOULD TRIGGER THE END OF
ANTI-ARMENIAN LAWS IN TURKEY

-- The European Armenian Federation proposes a general assessment of
Turkey's enduring legal basis for the extermination and the spoliation of
Armenians --

BRUSSELS - The European Armenian Federation has welcomed decision taken by
the Istanbul Court to end the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk for his statement
on the Armenian Genocide.

The Turkish Ministry of Justice, in a letter to the court, affirmed that it
would not provide the requested authorization for the trial to move forward.
As a result, the Court chose to drop the suit against Mr. Pamuk.

The European Armenian Federation is pleased that the Turkish State decided
to end this individual blow to freedom of expression. It recalls, however,
that dozens of intellectuals and journalists are still being prosecuted on
similar grounds, and that this singular action toward Mr. Pamuk should not
allow their fates to be ignored. The Federation holds that this is not
simply a personal matter concerning Mr. Pamuk, but rather a legal matter
involving Turkish statutes currently in force that censor freedom of
opinion.

The European Armenian Federation notes that the Turkish government's action
regarding the Pamuk case provides clear evidence of the weight of the
European Union demands. "Just as clearly, each time the European Union
evades its responsibilities by either compromising its values or waiving its
standards, Ankara interprets this retreat as encouragement that its human
rights violations can be committed with impunity. This episode demonstrates
that Turkey will have to respond positively to forceful European Union
demands that it recognize the Armenian Genocide," said Laurent Leylekian,
Executive Director of the European Armenian Federation.

"Therefore, we call upon the European Commission to increase its efforts
toward assessing Turkish law and judicial practices - at all levels from the
Constitution to criminal statutes - that are still in force and that have
provided a legal basis for the extermination and the spoliation of
Armenians," concluded Leylekian.

[Gavur]

'Judicial reform essential'

Friday, January 27, 2006






TÜSİAD echoes Straw’s call for more reforms


ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) Chairman Ömer Sabancı said on Thursday that Turkey's justice system was in need of immediate and comprehensive reform, noting that without practical applications European Union harmonization reforms would not produce anything.

Speaking at TÜSİAD's 36th General Council meeting, Sabancı said the need for reform has been obvious for a long time but that failure to do so was causing more problems every day.

“In particular courts making decisions as if there have been no changes made in the laws concerning freedom of expression and cultural rights is causing certain problems,” said Sabancı.

He suggested that the structure of the Judges and Prosecutors' Supreme Board (HSYK) be changed, with less political clout over the institution. He also called for an end to amnesties.

[Gavur]

NPR Transcript:CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST TURKISH WRITER ORHAN PAMUK

Anchors: Alex Chadwick, Madeleine Brand

National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: Day to Day 1:00 PM EST
January 25, 2006 Wednesday

ALEX CHADWICK, host:

This is Day to Day from NPR News. I'm Alex Chadwick. In Istanbul,
Turkey a sudden turn of events for that country's best known novelist
Orhan Pamuk facing up to three years in prison.

MADELEINE BRAND, host:

I'm Madeline Brand.

On Monday, a Turkish court dropped a case against the writer who was
charged with insulting Turkishness. In a newspaper interview last
February he had discussed what may be the most contentious issue in
Turkish history, the massacre of more than one million Armenians by
the Turks during the First World War.

CHADWICK: He also talked about the killing of 30,000 Kurds in the
Southeast of Turkey. After Orhan Pamuk's interview was published in
February, a prosecutor brought charges.

BRAND: Joining us to talk about why those charges have now been
dropped is reporter Hugh Pope. He's on the line from Istanbul. And
thanks for being with us.

Mr. HUGH POPE (Author/Reporter): Thank you.

BRAND: Well, why did the court decide to drop the charges?

Mr. POPE: Intense pressure from the Turkish government. They put all
their effort into getting Turkey accepted by the European Union and
this immediately raised the specter of all the bad ghosts of Turkish
past of suppressing dissent and jailing writers. And they basically
found a legalism that has now been interpreted by the local court
that the case can't go forward.

BRAND: So basically because Mr. Pamuk is such a celebrated writer
in Europe it would just be too much trouble really for the Turks to
prosecute him?

Mr. POPE: It was very embarrassing. They were coming under a lot of
pressure from the highest levels of government in not just Europe
but from the United States as well. And these laws are strangely
flexible. The idea of insulting Turkishness is obviously a very broad
concept and people have said far, far more contentious things about
the Armenian massacres and got away with it. And however there are
lots of other people that are getting prosecuted under the same law
and who are not as famous as Orhan Pamuk and are still getting prison
charges. And a few of them have actually gone to jail.

BRAND: What happened immediately after Orhan Pamuk made these
comments? I understand he received death threats.

Mr. POPE: Yes. That's probably the most disturbing aspect of the case
is that he immediately came under not just death threats but he was
physically jostled, he was attacked at the courthouse. People are
making his life hell here. He lives with a guard. He can't go out
normally anymore. And that's basically what the Nationalist side
of this equation is trying to do. It's trying to intimidate him and
anyone who thinks like him into speaking up about things that they
do not want spoken about.

BRAND: So, is there now a debate going on in Turkey over this law,
over how to prosecute people for insulting Turkishness?

Mr. POPE: Absolutely. It's one of the front lines of where Turkey's
going. We met some senior Turkish officials today and they hinted
that they were thinking of trying to change this law but the fact is
that this particular is now called Article 301. It was called various
other names and basically goes back to the Ottoman Empire. And it's
a law that the Turkish state has always kept in the cabinet for use
against people that it disagrees with.

And the Nationalists and the conservative side of Turkey that does
not want to open these old issues like the Armenian question and they
want to hold the line there and they want to keep the country under
strict rules. They don't want too many ideas floating about and so
they will keep, probably, some form of a law on the books so that it
can be used when someone feels it's necessary.

BRAND: Reporter Hugh Pope speaking to us from Istanbul about the
charges being dropped against Orhan Pamuk for insulting Turkishness.

And Hugh Pope, thank you very much for joining us.

Mr. POPE: You're welcome.