Article 301 - A breach of human rights.

[Stalins Ghost]

Thanks to my membership to the Axis of Justice mailing list, I received an email with a special request by the organization for its mailing list members to join a joint AoJ and Amnesty International email campaign, protesting against Article 301 in Turkey which prohibits anyone from speaking out against the Turkish government. I truly believe that if pressure is placed on one government that is flouting the prerequisites of democracy, more will follow across the world.

Having known about the article for a good while now, I've always felt it has no place in society across the world - it's a blatant aspect of Authoritarian rule, and is a breach of what I consider should be a global human right of freedom of speech. This campaign is an attempt to curb these breaches human rights, and I implore you all to join the campaign:

There is more information here: http://www.amnestyusa.org/musicforhu...erjletter.html

Join the Campaign here: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/c.g...53489&aid=7652

Thanks,

SG

[Crimson Scythe]

I half agree with your position on Article 301. However, many people, including many Turks, don't understand the purpose of the Article. This is why it has been abused for so long by the nationalists in Turkey.

Article 301 is supposed to be more of an anti-defamation law, hence the "insulting Turkishness" part of the Article. It has been abused in many ways by people who have warped its true meaning. This is because as an anti-defamation law, it is ambiguous. The spirit of Article 301 is similar to the laws against denial of the Jewish Holocaust in European countries, but since the wording is vague, nationalist lawyers have been able to use it to attack their opposite number.

As to whether it is 'right' for a democracy to have such a law, I think it is, but one that is clearly written in order to minimize abuse. Freedom of speech is used far too often in European (and other Western) countries as a shield that protects those who would insult others. Take the Hz. Mohammed cartoon incident, for example. That cartoon was a blatant insult (or ignorant generalization) to Muslims around the world, and yet it was permitted under the 'freedom of speech' nonsense. Same with the van Gogh films. People need to realize that freedom of speech doesn't give you the right to insult other peoples' beliefs and values just because you don't agree or don't understand them. To do so is nothing more than to demonstrate that one has a superiority complex.

Now to some of the specifics of the Article. Being 'Turkish' no longer has any ethnic meaning. It has become a way of life, and is little more than a way of saying that you are a citizen of the Turkish Republic. Thus, the Article is designed to prevent insults of the Republic, not Turks. Second, the state is regarded differently in Turkish culture. In Western European culture, and specifically in English-speaking cultures, the state has come to be seen as something that is to be fought against for one's rights (e.g., see Hobbes' "Leviathan"). Essentially, the state is seen as being at odds with society. In Turkish culture, the state is seen as something that is there to protect the people, not something that will crush the people if given a chance. Simply put, Turks (citizens of Turkey), for the most part, trust their state, while people in Western European countries don't. This isn't to say that Turks trust their politicians, because they don't, but the state as an institution is trusted, and the military even more so. This is why Turks are a little wary of changing laws like Article 301. There is a perception that Europeans are trying to undermine the peoples' trust in the state so as to weaken the country from within. Given Turkey's (and the Ottomans') history, can you really blame them for thinking this way?

EDIT: Here's the real wording of Article 301:

1 – An individual who openly belittles Turkishness, the Turkish Republic, or the Parliament is punished with imprisonment from anywhere between six months to three years.

2 – An individual that openly belittles the Turkish government, the state's judicial bodies, the military, or the police force is punished with imprisonment for six months to two years.

3 – If the belittlement of Turkishness takes place in a foreign country by a Turkish citizen, then the punishment is increased by one third.

4 – Declaration of thought for the purpose of criticism does not constitute a crime.Article 301 as suggested by the NGOs: