COE WELCOMED TURKEY’S ARTICLE 301 AMENDMENTS

The Council of Europe welcomed the recent amendments to the controversial article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which criminalized insulting "Turkishness," but added the amendment doesn’t alleviate all its concerns. CoE Secretary General Terry Davis said in a written statement he released on Friday that the recent amendments to article 301 of the Turkish penal code which criminalizes insults to the Turkish nation testify to the readiness of the Turkish authorities to review their legislation against the background of their obligations as a member of the Council of Europe and a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. “This is to be welcomed. However, although an analysis of the new wording indicates some progress in this respect, it does not alleviate all concerns about excessive restrictions of the freedom of expression, as guaranteed by article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights," he added. Davis said the decisive test of compliance with Council of Europe standards will be the interpretation of the new article 301 by the Turkish courts, and the Council will follow the situation very closely, the CoE communication unit reports. The European Union has been calling on Turkey to amend article 301, which has been the basis for charges against Turkish writers and journalists including Hrant Dink, Elif Safak and Orhan Pamuk.

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