15.07.2008 - Source: EurasiaNet

Baran Tursun shot by police for failing to stop his car for an identity check; his father Mehmet Tursun faces charges of insulting the judiciary and security police, according to Article 301; according to an expert, Article 301 still in use to intimidate and silence those trying to draw attention to their cases ("Free-speech issue remains a sensitive subject") [ID 24245]

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06.2008 - Source: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Germany)

On amendments of Art. 301 Turkish Criminal Code (offence called "insulting Turkishness" replaced by "insulting Turkish nation") (""Türkentum"-Artikel geändert (in: Entscheidungen Asyl 6/08, S. 3)") [ID 24261]

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30.04.2008 - Source: BBC News

Parliament approves softening of law criticised by EU for limiting free speech; article 301 of penal code was used against critics for "insulting Turkishness" ("Turkey reforms controversial law") [ID 23211]

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17.04.2008 - Source: Human Rights Watch

According to HRW, the government`s proposed revision of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, will not remove the article`s restrictions on free speech ("Government Amendments Will Not Protect Free Speech") [ID 22990]

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09.01.2008 - Source: Deutschlandfunk

Government plans to amend Art. 301 of Turkish Penal Code (defamation of “Turkishness” and of government institutions) ("Artikel 301 vor der Änderung") [ID 22092]

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06.11.2007 - Source: European Commission

Freedom of expression ("Turkey 2007 Progress Report [SEC(2007) 1436]") [ID 22355]

"As regards freedom of expression, including the media, open debate continued in the Turkish media on a wide range of issues, including those perceived to be sensitive by Turkish society.

However, the prosecution and conviction for the expression of non-violent opinions under certain provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code are a cause of serious concern. The number of persons prosecuted almost doubled in 2006 compared with in 2005), and there was a further increase in the number of prosecutions in 2007. More than half of these charges were brought under the Criminal Code, and in particular under article 301, which penalises insulting "Turkishness", the Republic and the organs and institutions of the state. The restrictive jurisprudence established in 2006 by the Court of Cassation on article 301 remains in force. Against this background, article 301 needs to be brought in line with the relevant EU standards. The same applies to other legal provisions7 which have been used to prosecute the non-violent expression of opinions and may limit freedom of expression. The potential impact of the anti-terror law on freedom of expression is a concern."

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07.2007 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Restrictions on Freedom of Expression ("Human Rights Concerns in the Lead up to July Parliamentary Elections") [ID 24593]

"Turkey has a long record of restricting peaceful expression and prosecuting those who peacefully express critical views of state policies on controversial issues such as secularism and religion, ethnicity, or the role of the army, or who question state sanctioned interpretations of history. Human rights defenders in Turkey and internationally have repeatedly called on the Turkish government to abolish penal code article 301 (“insulting Turkishness and the state institutions”) and similar provisions that are often used to prosecute such speech. Instead of repealing these laws, however, the state continues to prosecute and convict writers, journalists, publishers, and human rights activists for their peaceful speech and expression. Although the Turkish public is increasingly willing to discuss even difficult and previously taboo topics, elements of the judiciary and some politicians continue to attempt to limit such public discourse and prevent greater public scrutiny and criticism of the conduct of Turkish state institutions.

While there are no official statistics on the total number of ongoing prosecutions for freedom of expression and speech-related offenses, the media monitoring desk of the Istanbul-based online news service Bianet has calculated that 132 individuals and seven publications had trial hearings for speech-related offenses in May-June 2007. Bianet reported that 12 of these cases involved charges brought under article 301; five under article 216 ("inciting hatred and enmity”), and four under articles relating to "making terrorist propaganda.”

Numerous prosecutions, as well as some convictions, under article 301 occurred during 2007. The indictment of the Nokta journalist and his interviewee, mentioned above, is one such pending case. The following two other cases are typical of the trend:

- Ýbrahim Güçlü, spokesman for the Diyarbakýr Kurdish Association (Kürd-Der), was charged under article 301 for “insulting Turkishness and the Turkish Republic” for a speech he made in 2005 about the killing of 33 Kurdish villagers in Van in August 1943 (the so-called “Muðlalý incident”), on the 62nd anniversary of the killings. On January 24, 2007, the Diyarbakýr Court of First Instance No. 5 found Güçlü guilty and sentenced him to 18 months’ imprisonment. He has appealed the verdict.

- On July 11, human rights defender Eren Keskin received a one-year sentence converted to a fine (US$3,400) under article 301. Çerkezköy Penal Court of First Instance convicted her for a speech made on February 20, 2005, at an event organized by the Çerkezköy district headquarters of the Kurdish party DEHAP during which Keskin had referred to “Turkey’s dirty history” and used the word “Kurdistan.”

Though there are few prosecutions under the Law on Crimes Committed against the Memory of Atatürk, one recent example was especially striking:

- On March 13, 2007, Atilla Yayla, a professor of politics and political economy at Gazi University in Ankara and president of the Association for Liberal Thinking, was charged with “insulting Atatürk” for critical comments about Kemalism, as well as for his comments on the difficulty of explaining to foreign visitors the preponderance of images of Atatürk, which he made during a November 18, 2006 panel discussion in Izmir on the Social Impact of EU-Turkey Relations. On November 21, 2006, Yayla had been notified by the university that he would not be allowed to continue teaching pending the results of a disciplinary investigation by the university. He was later reinstated after receiving a reprimand. However, he now faces a possible three-year prison sentence if convicted in the trial begun against him on April 30 in Izmir. That trial is ongoing."

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