06 04 12 - /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.....

No Amendments to Be Introduced in Article 301
13.04.2006 01:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, unveiling a new reform package prepared by the government, said on Wednesday there was no problem in the implementation of the new Turkish penal code. Gul said the reform package did not foresee any amendment to the 301st article of the Turkish penal code under which several journalists and authors including Orhan Pamuk have been accused, reported Zaman. The Foreign Minister said the new reform package would swiftly be brought on to the parliamentary agenda. The anti-terror bill, which was opened to the cabinet signature, would not infringe on liberties, Gul added. To note, the controversial article 301 of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) received criticism by the Council of Europe. The Council's Committee of Ministers answering Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) French deputy Rudy Salles's question about the new TCK said they are nervously following the new law after freedom of expression cases opened about Orhan Pamuk and Ragip Zarakolu. The subsequent dropping of the Pamuk case and the circular published by the Ministry of Justice in January stating that "the new TCK will be implemented in the frame of the European Convention on Human Rights" have been welcomed in the official answer of the Committee of Ministers; the Council of Europe's decision-making body. The answer says the new law caused concerns in the Council just as in the world's opinion, and the Turkish Ministry of Justice's declaration that it will interpret the TCK in the frame of European Human Rights Convention was found positive. The Committee of Ministers asked Turkey to act in the frame of Convention resolutions in the cases opened for article 301, and emphasized they will keep a close eye on later cases.

It should be noted that Article 301 provides for punishment for the "outrage of the Turkish state". Orham Pamuk and other journalists were accused for mentioning the Armenian Genocide in their publications.


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Turkey Sets Three Conditions to Armenia
12.04.2006 23:41 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Without the fulfillment of Turkey's three fundamental demands by Armenia any development of ties between the two states is out of the question, head of the Turkish delegation to the PACE Murat Mercan stated in Strasbourg. According to the Turkish parliamentarian the conditions are as follows: settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict admissible for both parties; Armenia's positive reply to Turkey's proposal on the Armenian Genocide issue; recognition of the present borders with Turkey on the basis of the Kars agreement of 1921 by Yerevan. "Without fulfillment of these conditions it's no sense speaking of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations," Merjan said emphasizing the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border also depends on the proper fulfillment of the above mentioned conditions, reported Trend news agency.

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