PanArmenian.Net reports that the Turkish Foreign Minister has promised to amend the controversial Article 301 under which notable dissidents such as Hrant Dink and Orhan Pamuk have been prosecuted. Amnesty International has constantly spoken out about this provision in legislation which can be used to silence critical voices in Turkish society.

Amnesty International believes that Article 301 poses a direct threat to freedom of expression, as enshrined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and in Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). Turkey is a State Party to both conventions and therefore the Turkish government has a legal obligation to uphold this freedom. Nevertheless Amnesty International receives a steady flow of cases opened against individuals under Article 301, for expressing a wide variety of opinions. […]

The PanArmenian.Net report follows:

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül acknowledged that changes in penal code article on “Insulting Turkishness” are necessary. “We know that there are some problems with Article 301 and we see that changes in the article are necessary,” he stated. “We want free expression of thoughts that do not contain any incitement to violence. We don’t want anyone to go to jail because of expressing his or her views,” said Gül adding that the government was in touch with non-governmental organizations to obtain their proposals on how Article 301 should change.

Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code is once again under the spotlight after the murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who had been tried and sentenced to a six-month suspended imprisonment for “insulting Turkishness” under the law.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government has dragged its feet on changing the law, requesting more time to see how it is implemented and saying that no one, in the end, has been sent to jail under Article 301. But Dink, in his last column for his Turkish-Armenian newspaper, Agos, wrote that imprisonment was not the only punishment that a person could suffer, complaining that he had come to be known as a person convicted of insulting Turkishness.

Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek, one of the most reluctant figures within the government to change the law, said on Tuesday that possible amendments should be discussed at a later stage, after Dink was buried, Turks.US Daily News reports.

Dink’s funeral took place in Istanbul January 23. Dink’s funeral drew up to 100 000 people. Some participants carried banners reading “Murderer 301”, “We all are Armenians”. The Armenian delegation at the head of Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian had departed for Istanbul to attend Dink’s funeral.

Personally, I think that this provision should be removed entirely, but anyway. More on Article 301 can be found here.