Anti-Terrorism Law used Repeatedly to charge Journalists with Terrorist Propaganda

Reporters without Borders condemns the (ab)uses of anti-terrorism law in Turkey.

"Reporters Without Borders deplores Turkey’s abuse of its anti-terrorism law to censor and punish journalists who raise the issue of its Kurdish minority or quote certain Kurdish leaders. Use of the law to prosecute journalists has increased since it was amended in 2006. Under article 7/2 of the law, propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization is punishable by imprisonment.

As neither “propaganda” nor “terrorist organization” is defined, the article can easily be interpreted in the broadest possible way to target almost any journalist or media. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its condemnation of the law, which has ushered in a regime of censorship and suppression of free speech. [...]

Sociologist Ismail Besikçi and Zeycan Balci Simsek, the editor of the legal monthly Cagimizda Hukuk ve Toplum, appeared before an Istanbul court on 12 November on the same charge of “propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization” (the PKK) in an article about the Kurdish right to self-determination that Besikçi wrote for the journal.

The chief fault that the prosecutor seemed to find with the article was the fact that Besikçi wrote Qandil – the name of the mountain in northern Iraq where the PKK has its main base – with a Q (a letter that exists in the Kurdish alphabet but not in the Turkish one) instead of with a K. The trial is due to continue on 4 March."

http://en.rsf.org/turkey-anti-terrorism-law-used-repeatedly-22-11-2010,38864.html

Also, to see Middle East Studies Association (MESA)--Committee on Academic Freedom's
intervention letter for İsmail Beşikçi, please visit:

http://www.mesa.arizona.edu/committees/academic-freedom/intervention/letters-turkey.html#Turkey111003

Newsfeed

A history book on 1915, please – but put no genocide in it!

Read about the historiographical project of the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan on GIT - North America.


GIT Initiative Denounces the Declarations of Turkish Minister of Internal Affairs

Read the statement of the GIT initiative on the declarations of Mr. İdris Naim Şahin on GIT - North America. To read the declarations of Minister Şahin, see the translation in English on GIT - North America.

AKP's passion for the Kurds: Either you belong to me or to the court

Read Selin Pelek and Foti Benlisoy's analysis of the uses of anti-terrorism law against freedom of speech, especially on the Kurdish issue on GIT - North America.


Rights violations surging

Human rights workers, lawyers and politicians say Turkey has been taking backwards steps on human rights issues since 2005. Read more on Hürriyet Daily News.

The Epidemic of Terrorism under Turkey's Mubarak 

Eren Buğlalılar writes about the statistics of detainees, arrests, under the claims of terrorism, and refers to a report prepared by the Progressive Lawyers Association [Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği] whereby hundreds of students are arrested. We also learn from Buğlalılar that this Association too was raided by the police and 33 lawyers member of this association were arrested. If you missed it earlier, read it on GIT - North America.

Newsfeed

Freedom of Thought and Speech in Turkey. Right Now

Follow "Freedom of Thought and Speech in Turkey. Right Now" on Facebook.

A college student in jail for an internship inquiry

Read about Şeyma Özcan, a second year Boğaziçi University student majoring in History, who is in jail because of a phone call she made to inquire about an internship at a newspaper on Hürriyet Daily News.

"Turkey takes Lead in Violations of Freedom of Expression"

According to the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR] Judge Işıl Karakaş, arrests in Turkey are the basis and release the exception, and Turkey is "the country in the worst situation considering press freedom and freedom of expression" and also "the country with the most convictions ruled by the ECHR in this area." According to this, "the number of applications filed to the ECHR from Turkey in 2011 has increased incredibly. This year, about 9,000 applications were made compared with less than 6,500 last year. This shows that some things are not going right in Turkey despite a set of regulations, reforms or developments expected for the judiciary."

Read more about Işıl Karakaş, judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) visit Bianet.

Anti-Terrorism Law Obstructs Freedom of Expression

The opening session of the "Freedom Express - Özgürlük Ekspresi," was held on November 16th in Istanbul; this initiative aims at creating a forum of free thought for the discussion of different ideas without polarization. The first guests of this event hosted by journalist Banu Güven were Nadire Mater, journalist and photographer Wilco van Herpen and journalist Faruk Mercan. Güven emphasized that "[p]ress Freedom occupies a large part within freedom of expression" and "claimed that this situation had an impact on the journalists' freedom to make news as well as on the readers' freedom to information."The discussants agreed that what obstructed the freedom of expression used to be Article 301, denigrating Turkishness, and that now, it the Anti-Terrorism Law has replaced Article 301 in obstructing free expression.

To read these comments by three journalists working in Turkey, visit Bianet.

And read much more by visiting our Links and other sections.