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Turkey and Denmark clash over press
freedom
17.11.2005
By Teresa Küchler
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Turkish prime minister
Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a joint press conference
with the Danish leader in protest at the presence of
a Kurdish TV station on Tuesday (15 November),
highlighting European values on free speech.
"There is a fundamental difference between Turkey
and Denmark in matters of freedom of expression,"
the Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said
at the press conference his Turkish counterpart
avoided.
The Turkish prime minister was visiting the Danish
capital Copenhagen as the first stop in a tour
around EU capitals to discuss the prospects of
Turkey's EU membership.
Mr Erdogan stayed away from the press conference in
protest at the presence of a journalist from the
Danish-based TV channel Roj TV.
Turkey has repeatedly urged Denmark to close the
channel, which sends news, entertainment, debate and
children's' programs to Kurds in Denmark, arguing it
is financed by the Kurdish rebel party, the PKK,
which is on the EU's list of terrorist
organisations.
Danish police are investigating the station, but
have not found evidence of links to forbidden
organisations so far.
Mr Rasmussen said he regretted that Mr Erdogan did
not attend the press conference, but pointed out
that excluding the Kurdish TV-station from the
conference would have violated the principles of
freedom of expression in the European Union, which
Turkey aspires to join.
He added that Turkey must realise that there are a
few strict conditions that have to be fulfilled if
Turkey wants to join the EU one day.
Turkish-Danish relations sore
Ironically, the official visit of Tayyip Erdogan to
Denmark was aimed at improving relations between the
two countries following a two-month row over press
freedom and Islam.
In September, Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten
invited cartoonists to submit drawings of the
prophet Mohammed after an author complained that
nobody dared illustrate his book on Mohammed.
Twelve cartoons were published, according to the
newspaper, as "a test of whether fear of Islamic
retribution has begun to limit freedom of expression
in Denmark."
The cartoons caused outrage in Muslim communities in
and outside Denmark, with eleven Islamic countries
including Turkey writing official letters to prime
minister Rasmussen to express offence and demand an
official apology.
Mr Rasmussen has persistently said that freedom of
expression is the very foundation of Danish
democracy and that his government has no means of
influencing the press.
"Freedom of expression is important, but more
important is what is holy for me. I would never
abuse my freedom of expression to attack those
things that are holy to Anders Fogh Rasmussen," Mr
Erdogan said in Copenhagen.
The timing of the Danish-Turkish clash is
unfortunate, as earlier this week a survey conducted
by statistics company Ramboll Management for
Jyllands-Posten showed that 55 percent of Danes are
opposed to Turkey joining the EU.
www.euobserver.com
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