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Istanbul, 20
September, -- Celebrated Turkish novelist Elif Safak
goes on trial in Istanbul on Thursday on charges of
'denigrating the Turkish national identity' in her
latest best-seller novel 'Baba ve Pic' (The Bastard
of Istanbul). She is the latest in a series of
authors charged with 'insulting Turkishness'
according to the controversial article 301 of
Turkey's penal code and faces six months jail. Like
most such trials the case is brought not by the
state but by an ultra-nationalist lawyers group
Buyuk Hukukcular Birligi (Grand Lawyers Association)
responsible also for violent protests accompanying
the trials.
But unlike the cases against other prominent writers
and thinkers, such as Orhan Pamuk, Murat Belge,
Hrant Dink, Thursday's case will be based not on
what the author said or wrote herself, but rather
for the words spoken by a fictional character in her
latest novel.
"I come from a family all of whose relations were
slaughtered by the Turks in 1915. I've learnt to
keep quiet about my origins, and it's been made
clear to me that there never was a genocide," is the
passage on trial. Safak has put these words into the
mouth of a fictional Armenian woman who had grown up
in Istanbul and now lives in the US.
Article 301 says anyone insulting Turkishness, the
Turkish Republic, Parliament, the judiciary, police
and military faces up to three years in prison. "We
expect not a change in 301 but its complete removal
from the Turkish penal code," Hansjorg Krestchmer,
the European Comission representative in Turkey said
last week.
While the European Union raises its criticism of
301, saying it is a big obstacle for freedom of
speech and freedom of expression, the Turkish
government seem rather confused. Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul and EU negotiator Ali Babacan say it
might change but Cemil Cicek, government spokesman
and Minister of Justice, says that neither changing
301 nor abolishing it is in their agenda.
The Main opposition CHP (Republican People’s Party)
supports changing the article.
The Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's
Association (TUSIAD) appealed to the government on
Tuesday to realize that amending 301 is of great
importance for Turkey's EU accession hopes.
For their part, the ultra-nationalist lawyers on
Tuesday called ‘all Turks’ to come to Beyoglu court
in Istanbul to protest against Safak. In previous
trials, there have been violent protests abuse and
acts of vandalism outside the courthouses, organised
by the far right groups, keen to prevent
intellectuals expressing their opinions on near-tabu
issues, such as the Armenian massacres, the rights
of non-Muslims and criticism of Turkey's powerful
military.
While there has always been high security around
such trials, the police - whose officers
traditionally come from nationalist backgrounds - is
reluctant to remove the angry mob.
After voicing his concerns about another violent
protest on Thursday, Muammer Guler, Istanbul
governor told the DHA news agency that groups
unrelated to the trial will be prevented from
abusing the defendant.
Safak, 35, also teaches literature at the University
of Arizona. She is unlikely to attend court tomorrow
since she became a mother for the first time on
Saturday.
adnki com
First world war
massacres | Related
issue:
Armenian Genocide by Turkish Muslims against
Christians
Turkey faces international pressure to recognise
that more than 1 million Armenians were massacred
during a 1915 campaign of ethnic cleansing by
Ottoman Turks. Turkish officials claim that most
deaths were caused by hunger and disease.
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