Publishers Troubled with Restrictive Laws

Leading jurists, publishers and journalists attending the "2nd Turkish Publishing Convention" held in Istanbul have expressed concern over judicial restrictions on the publishing sector in the country, criticising current legislation for restricting the freedom of expression and enforcing an auto-censorship on publishers and authors.

The event was jointly organized by the Turkish Publishers Union (TYB) and Istanbul Bilgi University

Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koc, addressing the convention argued that the publishing industry had recorded serious improvements since the state withdrew from the field and promised more incentives to the sector with the state postal authority becoming part of the distribution network.

Communications jurist Fikret Ilkiz criticized the way the issue of public morality was handled in the Turkish legal system, while jurist Haluk Inanici stressed that the freedom of opinion was an insurance for democracy and criticized controversial article 301. Participating speakers appeared to all agree that the publishing sector was in deep waters due to legislation.

Koc: PTT will become part of publishing sector

The convention that started on April 13 was launched with a session on "the Turkish Penal Code and Freedom of Publishing" where Prof.Dr. Baskin Oran, British journalist Andrew Finkel based in Turkey, communications law expert jurist Fikret Ilkiz, publisher Ragip Zarakolu and jurist Haluk Inanici made speeches.

Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koc who had attended the first convention two years ago told participants that with the state withdrawing from the publishing sector under their administration, serious improvements had been recorded in this field and stressed their aim as making publishing part of an international activity.

"Publishers should take a more active role" said the Minister adding, "in 6 months, books by 13 Turkish authors have appeared in world bookshops. We are [now] encouraging our royalty companies to attend international book fairs."

Koc promised the convention to look into the problem of distributing publications and said the Turkish postal authority PTT would itself become part of the distribution network. "We will enable the distribution in the hands of the PTT to be cheaper and to expand towards the remotest places. We will include the PTT into the publishing sector," he said.

Referring to TYB chairman Cetin Tuzuner's remarks that the publishing sector in Turkey faced difficult times, the Minister said "when supermarkets open up, butchers close down" depicting the current trend.

Organisers: Publishing in trouble

Organizers of the convention made opening speeches in which they pointed out that the publishing sector in Turkey was going through difficult times particularly in scientific publications.

Bilgi University Dean Aydin Ugur, in his opening remarks for the convention, described publishing as a "life and death matter" for the academic word, noting that although there had been a serious increase in the number of universities in the country since the 1990s, there were very serious problems in publishing and distribution of scientific material.

TYB chairman Tuzuner, stressed that development was an integral part of science and could only be achieved through educated individuals. He said, "while the publisher benefits from the freedom of publishing, he also enables the most principle right of the individuals in the society, which is the right to express opinions."

Oran: High expectations for 2005 lead to big disappointments

The "TCK and Freedom of Publishing" session that followed the opening remarks started with a short introduction by the session's facilitator, publisher Mehmet Atay.

Atay referred to the post September 12, 1980 military takeover period in Turkey and said it was then that not only the freedom of publishing itself but even the freedom of possession of books at home had been subject to pressure.

The first speaker of the session, Prof.Dr. Baskin Oran, covered the human rights situation of last year and said that since the October 2001 constitutional amendment and the launch of the EU accession period, Turkish public opinion had great expectations from 2005. "Because expectations were so high, the disappointment was so big," Prof.Oran said.

Prof. Oran also criticised the state of the new Turkish Penal Code by saying "we have come face to face with what appears to be zombies of the articles of the previous Penal Code" and recalled that particularly article 301 allowed judges to punish those expressing critical opinions. He said article 216 and 288 were being used to suppress the freedom of expression and that developments due to these articles had reached "absurd dimensions".

He expressed belief that the reason for such problems was the reaction to globalisation and the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) explaining, "the society came to believe that its national identity was under threat. This in turn influenced justice. In these days where we are entering an election period, the government has retreated in the face of Turkish nationalism."

Finkel: We must act bravely as journalists

Journalist Andrew Finkel, meanwhile, recalled that he had been put on trial under article 159 due to the "Sirnak 1988" article he wrote while working for the Sabah newspaper and summarised his views as a foreign journalist working within the scope of the freedom of expression in Turkey.

"Think of it like this," he said. "You are a guest at a dinner. They ask you how the soup is. In order not to be impolite, you say it is good. They ask you to tell the truth. But when you say it is a bit salty, you get the reply 'shame, shame'".

Finkel stressed that as long as journalists did not feel free and did not act bravely, the laws themselves would have little or no meaning and noted that the behaviour of some of his colleagues made him feel sad. Finkel added, "when as journalists we do not act with courage, how can we expect the government to act with courage?"

Ilkiz: Is this not shameful?

Focusing on obscenity and obscene publications at the convention, communications jurist Fikret Ilkiz noted that the relevant article 59 of the new Turkish Penal Code which was prepared by previous governments was being put into practice in a very short time, but in steps.

Ilkiz recalled that a case had been filed in the past against Henry Miller's "Tropic of Capricorn" on allegations of containing obscene remarks and that a total of 26 publishers acting under the initiative of publisher Ugur Cankocak had challenged the case, succeeding and clearing the name of the book.

He said that he had positive feelings for the first sentence of article 226 of the Penal Code titled "Obscenity" because it protected minors, but expressed concern that the 7th sentence of the same article which disallowed it to be applied to scientific work was being disregarded and ignored. "In cases that are open due to politics or other reasons, this 7th sentence will have no meaning," he argued.

Ilkiz also noted that members of the Prime Ministry Commission for the Protection of Minors from Obscene Publications were being utilised by courts as expert witnesses and argued that as result of this "public morality had been handed over to this commission."

Saying that there was nothing holistic between the laws, Ilkiz concluded: "I beg your pardon, I will continue to be immoral."

Inanici: 301 will enforce auto-censorship

Jurist Haluk Inanıcı who said that freedom of opinion was the insurance of democracy criticised article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code arguing that the main problem with it was that forced publishers and authors into auto-censorship.

Inanici said the concept of "degrading Turkisism" under article 301/1 was "a shame" and added that the main target of this article was to "protect the moral values of the Turkish race" while its enforcement would be limited to Turkey. Lawyer Inanici also criticised court cases against those who had criticised the jurisdiction under article 310/2 and called for an environment where limitations of freedom of expression by the government it would not be regarded as natural.

Zarakolu: New threat, Ataturk Law

Publisher Ragıp Zarakolu who started his speech by saying, "I'm fed up from talking about 301, obscenity, counter-terrorism law, " stressed that even books that had been cleared by the Martial Law Tribunals of the past were being put on trial in today's Turkey.

Zarakol said a new Law on Offences Committed Against Ataturk was a "new threat" for the country and described it as a threat that would make justice ideological. As head of Belge Publications, Zarakol said "a wave of tolerance needs to be started from the Prime Minister downwards" but noted that the Prime Minister himself was opening libel cases against printed media for cartoons depicting him. (EO/KO/II/YE)