Free Expression Falls Victim to EU Opponents

Nationalists opposed to Turkey's engagement with Europe have sought out sympathetic public prosecutors across the country to file criminal complaints against journalists, writers and academics who favor EU membership, a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.

Using loosely worded laws that criminalize the denigration of the Turkish state, its identity and its institutions, conservative secular nationalists - referred to by some as "the state within the state" - are challenging writings and public comments on issues they dislike, including the Kurds, the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, and the security forces, CPJ found in its special report, "Nationalism and the Press," released today.

Five journalists were charged in December 2005 under Article 288 of the penal code with attempting to influence the outcome of judicial proceedings through their writings. Four of the five were also charged under the controversial Article 301 of the code with insulting "Turkishness," and if convicted could face prison terms from six months to 10 years.

Senior Editor Robert Mahoney attended the unruly opening of the journalists' trial on February 7 in Istanbul where hundreds of riot police ringed the court room and the judge adjourned the case after two hours. He interviewed several of the journalists standing trial, government officials and activists for the report.

Since Turkey's penal code was overhauled in 2005, cases have been brought against 29 journalists under Article 301, according to the local press freedom organization Bia.

For 40 years, Turkey has been forging closer political, economic, and social ties with Europe, writes Mahoney. But the opening last October of formal accession negotiations with Brussels has galvanized those who feel Turkey has gone far enough in reforming itself along Western lines to pass the EU membership test.

The prosecution of the five journalists is scheduled to reconvene on April 11.