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Turkey: Journalists fined for 'Insulting
the republic'
23.12.2005
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Istanbul, 22 Dec. (AKI) - Two Turkish
journalists found guilty in separate cases of
"insulting the [Turkish] republic" were originally
sentenced to jail, but have now been ordered to pay
fines instead. Zulkuf Kisanak will have to pay 3,000
Turkish lira (some 1,870 euros) for the contents of
his book "Lost Villages" in which he accused Turkish
troops of looting over 3,000 Kurdish villages in
southeastern Turkey during the 1990s.
Aziz Ozer, the editor of the magazine Cagri was
ordered to pay 6,000 lire (some 3,740 euros) for
having published an article which mentions the
genocide of Armenians said to have taken place under
Turkey's Ottoman rulers from 1915-20. Official
policy in Turkey is that the mass murder never took
place.
In their ruling the judges said both men had
"insulted the Turkish identity." Lawyers said they
would appeal the sentences.
Last week an Istanbul court suspended the
high-profile trial of acclaimed Turkish novelist
Orhan Pamuk, who is charged with insulting his
nation, over his references to the mass killing of
Kurds and Ottoman Armenians - deaths Turkey insists
cannot be classed as genocide.
The EU has warned the trial raises doubts over free
speech in Turkey.
www.adnki.com
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