Turkish writers take stand for free speech
February 07, 2006
The Christian Science Monitor
By Yigal Schleifer - Correspondent
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Twenty-something Fatih Tas is far from being one of the giants of the Turkish publishing scene. Based in a poorly heated one-room office, his Istanbul-based Aram publishing house usually counts its sales of individual titles in the hundreds - maybe the thousands if business is good.
But Aram's small size hasn't kept it from drawing the attention of the Turkish authorities. Mr. Tas currently has 20 court cases open against him and faces a six-month prison sentence if his appeal is not upheld. His fault? Violating a vaguely-worded law that regulates a wide range of acts that could be interpreted as an "insult" to "Turkish identity" or to the country's military and other state institutions.
[...]
World-renowned Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was charged under the same law [...] But unlike Pamuk, whose case was dropped on a technicality under strong pressure from the European Union, Tas and dozens of others are still mired in a legal system that raises questions about Turkey's readiness to join the EU.
"This resolution of the Pamuk drama does not really bring a lot of resolution to the other cases, because nobody really stood up for freedom of expression," says an Ankara-based European diplomat [...].
[...]
Five prominent Turkish journalists are expected in an Istanbul court Tuesday to face charges stemming from columns they wrote criticizing a judge's decision last September to ban an academic conference about the Armenian question.
Turkish legal experts say the cases represent a clash between pro-EU forces and conservative, nationalist members of the judiciary and government who are trying to use laws like Article 301 to slow down Turkey's democratic reform process.
[...]
The European diplomat said that the various freedom of expression cases could ultimately impact Turkey's accession talks with the EU, although for now the body will watch the remaining cases closely to see how they turn out.
[...]
In a January 20 speech to EU ambassadors in Ankara, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted there have been problems with how the new penal code has been implemented, but said it was too early to make any changes to it.
[...]
But Bilgi University's Tarhanli says an article like 301 harms Turkish democracy. "There must be a public interest in every legal provision, but what is the public interest protected under this article?" he asks. "The existence of such an article in a penal code in a democracy is nonsense."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
The Christian Science Monitor
By Yigal Schleifer - Correspondent
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Twenty-something Fatih Tas is far from being one of the giants of the Turkish publishing scene. Based in a poorly heated one-room office, his Istanbul-based Aram publishing house usually counts its sales of individual titles in the hundreds - maybe the thousands if business is good.
But Aram's small size hasn't kept it from drawing the attention of the Turkish authorities. Mr. Tas currently has 20 court cases open against him and faces a six-month prison sentence if his appeal is not upheld. His fault? Violating a vaguely-worded law that regulates a wide range of acts that could be interpreted as an "insult" to "Turkish identity" or to the country's military and other state institutions.
[...]
World-renowned Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was charged under the same law [...] But unlike Pamuk, whose case was dropped on a technicality under strong pressure from the European Union, Tas and dozens of others are still mired in a legal system that raises questions about Turkey's readiness to join the EU.
"This resolution of the Pamuk drama does not really bring a lot of resolution to the other cases, because nobody really stood up for freedom of expression," says an Ankara-based European diplomat [...].
[...]
Five prominent Turkish journalists are expected in an Istanbul court Tuesday to face charges stemming from columns they wrote criticizing a judge's decision last September to ban an academic conference about the Armenian question.
Turkish legal experts say the cases represent a clash between pro-EU forces and conservative, nationalist members of the judiciary and government who are trying to use laws like Article 301 to slow down Turkey's democratic reform process.
[...]
The European diplomat said that the various freedom of expression cases could ultimately impact Turkey's accession talks with the EU, although for now the body will watch the remaining cases closely to see how they turn out.
[...]
In a January 20 speech to EU ambassadors in Ankara, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted there have been problems with how the new penal code has been implemented, but said it was too early to make any changes to it.
[...]
But Bilgi University's Tarhanli says an article like 301 harms Turkish democracy. "There must be a public interest in every legal provision, but what is the public interest protected under this article?" he asks. "The existence of such an article in a penal code in a democracy is nonsense."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 9:26 AM
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