25 January 2006

1. "EU Welcomes Turkey's Move to Drop Charges Against Writer", the European Union (EU) on Monday welcomed the decision by the Turkish judicial authorities to drop charges against Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk.

2. "Turkey: Dropping of Pamuk charges welcome but concern for others remains", Amnesty International welcomed reports yesterday(23 January) that the case against Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk has been dropped. The writer was facing charges under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code after commenting on the deaths of Kurds and Armenians in the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger. Sisli Court of First Instance No. 2 had been awaiting the authorization of the Ministry of Justice to proceed with the case, but reportedly threw it out after the Ministry wrote to the court declaring itself legally incompetent to intervene.

3. "Turkey ranked sixth in number of complaints at key European court", the number of complaints against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights has dropped, causing it to be ranked sixth in number of complaints filed in 2005, down from fourth the previous year. There were a total of 2,244 complaints filed against Turkey in 2005 at the Strasbourg-based court, NTV reported yesterday.

4. "Interior Ministry Launches Investigation About 56 Mayors", Interior Ministry started an investigation into the letter written by 56 Democratic Society Party (DTP) mayors to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen asking him not to close Roj TV in Denmark--which supports terrorist organization PKK in its broadcasts.

5. "Name of Domestic Violence: Husband Beating", Prof. Dr. Kocacik, head of the General Sociology in the Cumhuriyet University in Turkey, said 46.5 percent of women are faced with violence. "Beating," "threat," and "cursing" are most frequent forms of domestic violence.

6. "Turkey in fresh move to end Cyprus impasse", Turkey will today announce a fresh initiative to try to break the deadlock on Cyprus in another effort to reinvigorate its fractious ties with the European Union, after yesterday abandoning its prosecution of the novelist Orhan Pamuk.

1. - Xinhua - "EU Welcomes Turkey's Move to Drop Charges Against Writer":

24 January 2006

The European Union (EU) on Monday welcomed the decision by the Turkish judicial authorities to drop charges against Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk.

"This is obviously good news for Mr. Pamuk, but it's also good news for freedom of expression in Turkey," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, a Turkish court dropped charges against Pamuk, a well-known Turkish novelist, for insulting the Turkish state.

The charges stemmed from Pamuk's remarks during an interview with a Swiss newspaper. He said that "thirty thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in Turkey" during World War One and in the 1980s and 1990s. He also claimed that "almost no one dares to speak out on this but me".

Rehn urged the Turkish authorities to act further to drop charges against several other journalists and writers who had also spoken out against the government.

He said he hoped the latest decision will "pave the way for a positive outcome for them as well".

Rehn also urged Turkey to "fill properly the loopholes of the current Penal Code", which "leave too much room for abusive and restrictive interpretations limiting freedom of expression".

The trial of Pamuk has cast a shadow over the accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU. The EU warned Turkey last month of negative consequences to its EU bid if the Muslim country's court goes on with its planned trial of Pamuk.

Rehn said at the time that Turkey should make serious efforts in bringing its legislation in line with EU's laws, including the European Convention of Human Rights.

2. - Amnesty International - "Turkey: Dropping of Pamuk charges welcome but concern for others remains":

24 January 2006

Amnesty International welcomed reports yesterday(23 January) that the case against Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk has been dropped. The writer was facing charges under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code after commenting on the deaths of Kurds and Armenians in the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger. Sisli Court of First Instance No. 2 had been awaiting the authorization of the Ministry of Justice to proceed with the case, but reportedly threw it out after the Ministry wrote to the court declaring itself legally incompetent to intervene.

Amnesty International opposes Article 301 on the grounds that it poses a serious threat to the right to freedom of expression, which the Turkish authorities have a legal duty to uphold.

The organisation analysed Artocle 301 and detailed its concerns about the cases against Orhan Pamuk and others in a statement on 9 December 2005, Turkey: Article 301 is a threat to freedom of expression and must be repealed now!

Amnesty’s concerns regarding the breadth of Article 301 and its potential for arbitrary interpretation remain in spite of Orhan Pamuk’s case being dropped.

In fact, the organisation considers that Orhan Pamuk’s high profile drew attention to the deficiencies of Article 301, and now fears that the cases of other individuals prosecuted under the same article may continue in relative obscurity.

The cases of Hrant Dink, Sehmus Ulek, Ragip Zarakolu, Fatih Tas, Murat Pabuc, Birol Duru and Ridvan Kizgin, which Amnesty International detailed in its earlier statement, are still ongoing.

In addition on 9 December 2005, the Istanbul Court of First Instance No. 2 sentenced Fatih Tas to a prison term of six months for the publication of another book They Say You are Missing [Kayipsin Diyorlar] by Ali Aydin.

The book is a collection of articles and poems about a journalist who went missing during the 1990s. Fatih Tas is currently appealing the decision.

Amnesty International is equally concerned about further cases against other individuals who have peacefully expressed their opinions, such as those outlined below.

Journalists Murat Belge, Ismet Berkan, Hasan Cemal, Erol Katircioglu and Haluk Sahin are all facing possible prison sentences under Article 301 for newspaper articles they wrote about a judicial decision to ban a conference on the situation of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire.

The first hearing of their case is due to be held at Bagcilar Court of First Instance No. 2 on 7 February 2006.

The trial of Halil Altindere, organizer of the 9th Istanbul Biennale, a festival of the arts, is due to begin at Beyoglu Penal Court of First Instance on 13 April 2006. He is charged under Article 301 in connection with a photograph exhibition which is allegedly “insults” the army.

The Beyoglu Public Prosecutor has brought a case against Abdullah Yildiz, chief editor of Literatur Publishing House under Article 301, after the publication of a translation of a book entitled The Witches of Smyrna [Izmir'in Falcilari] by Greek author Mara Meimaridi. The book is alleged to portray the Turkish people in a bad light. The case is due to be heard on 6 April 2006.

Professor Ibrahim Kaboglu and Professor Baskin Oran, respectively former head and committee member of the Human Rights Committee under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office, will go on trial on 15 February 2006 charged under Articles 216 and 301 for a report produced on Minority and Cultural rights at the request of the Prime Minister himself.

On 22 December 2005, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No. 2 sentenced author Zulkuf Kisanak to five months’ imprisonment on charges of insulting the Turkish Republic in his book How the Inheritance of Thousands of Years was Burned: Lost Villages [Bin Yillarin Mirasi Nasil Yakildi: Yitik Koyler]. The sentence was commuted to a fine of 3000 YTL [c. US$ 2,260].

The dropping of the case of Orhan Pamuk is too small a step on the road to freedom of expression in Turkey.

Amnesty International regards the incident as further evidence of the arbitrary nature of Article 301. It calls on the Turkish authorities to terminate all cases pending under the article, and for the article itself to be abolished in its entirety.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "Turkey ranked sixth in number of complaints at key European court": :

24 January 2006

The number of complaints against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights has dropped, causing it to be ranked sixth in number of complaints filed in 2005, down from fourth the previous year.

There were a total of 2,244 complaints filed against Turkey in 2005 at the Strasbourg-based court, NTV reported yesterday.

Russia topped the list with 8,781 complaints, followed by Poland, Romania, France and Ukraine. The total number of petitions at the European court was 41,510.

However, most of the verdicts announced by the European court in 2005 concerned Turkey. The court issued decisions on 290 cases regarding Turkey, followed by Ukraine, Greece, Russia and Italy with 120, 105, 83 and 79 court rulings, respectively. According to the European court, in 269 of the Turkey-related cases Turkey had violated at least one article of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court's decisions on headscarf-wearing Leyla Sahin and Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), were considered to be the most important verdicts in 2005.

In a verdict released in November on a complaint by Sahin, who chose to leave university in 1998 because the school declined to admit her after she refused to stop wearing a headscarf, the court's Grand Camber upheld the headscarf ban at schools in Turkey and ruled that the ban did not violate the right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion as guaranteed by an international human rights treaty.

The ruling was in response to an appeal by Sahin against an earlier ruling from a lower chamber of the Strasbourg court, which found the headscarf ban was in place to protect the rights and freedoms of all students and safeguard public order.

In May, the same court ruled that the 1999 trial of Öcalan, in which the now-defunct State Security Court (DGM) sentenced him to death for “treason through separatism,” was unfair because Öcalan was given insufficient access to the case file and because restrictions were imposed on his lawyers during the trial process.

The court said retrying Öcalan or reopening his case would be “an appropriate way of redressing the violation,” without setting a time limit. It also said Turkey should pay 120,000 euros to Öcalan's lawyers to cover court costs.

Currently, there is a backlog of 81,000 files to be handled by the European court and 10,000 of those files concern Turkey.

4. - Turkish Press - "Interior Ministry Launches Investigation About 56 Mayors":

DIYARBAKIR / 23 January 2006

Interior Ministry started an investigation into the letter written by 56 Democratic Society Party (DTP) mayors to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen asking him not to close Roj TV in Denmark--which supports terrorist organization PKK in its broadcasts.
The two inspectors who were charged by the Interior Ministry, arrived in southeastern Diyarbakir city on Sunday and launched an investigation into the letter written by 56 mayors including those of Diyarbakir, Batman, Tunceli, Sýrnak, Hakkari cities in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

Earlier Diyarbakir Prosecutor's Office had also launched an investigation about the letter.

5. - Bianet - "Name of Domestic Violence: Husband Beating":

Prof. Dr. Kocacik, head of the General Sociology in the Cumhuriyet University in Turkey, said 46.5 percent of women are faced with violence. "Beating," "threat," and "cursing" are most frequent forms of domestic violence.

SIVAS / 20 January 2006

Professor Doctor Faruk Kocacik, head of the General Sociology and Methodology Department of the Sociology Division of the Science and Literature Department of the Cumhuriyet University has conducted a research on domestic violence. His research reveals that 46.5 percent of women are faced with violence.

According to survey results, the violator in 98.5 percent of the cases is the "husband." "Beating," "threat," and "cursing" are most frequent forms of domestic violence.

The research also reveals the reasons of violence: In 32.2 percent of the cases, women are faced with violence for "not fulfilling their responsibilities at home," and in 21.6 percent of the cases, violence arises from "economic and psychological problems of the husband."

Husband beating

Another research by Professor Dr. Orhan Dogan, head of the Psychiatry Division of the Medical Department of the Cumhuriyet University, reveals that 57 percent of the women who apply to the psychiatry polyclinic for their psychological problems are women who are faced with violence.

According to research conducted among married women who have applied to the polyclinic, 36 percent undergo emotional violence, 32 percent undergo economic violence (using money or resources as a means to threaten and control women), 30.7 percent undergo sexual violence and 29.3 percent undergo verbal violence.

The research also shows that domestic violence in Turkey is continuing and is being covered up by women. The most important reason for women to hide violence are cultural and economic factors.

Depression

Deputy Associate-Professor Dr. Yeltekin Demirel, an academician at the Medical Department of the University, researchers Selma Cetinkaya, Dilek Arzu Bakir and academician Naim Nur conducted a research among women who have given birth. This research showed that women do not get enough attention and support from their husbands following birth.

According to the research 28 percent of the women have depression after birth. Women, who do not get enough attention from their husbands, are three times more likely to have depression after birth.

Professor Dr. Yusuf Ozturk and Deputy Associate-Professor Dr. Ahmet Ozturk from the Public Health Division of the Medical Department of the Erciyes University and master student Elif Durmus have also conducted a research among married women. According to this research one in four women marry a relative, which can cause health problems during pregnancy and in the baby.

6. - Financial Times - "Turkey in fresh move to end Cyprus impasse":

ANKARA / BRUSSELS / 23 January 2006 / by Vincent Boland and Daniel Dombey

Turkey will today announce a fresh initiative to try to break the deadlock on Cyprus in another effort to reinvigorate its fractious ties with the European Union, after yesterday abandoning its prosecution of the novelist Orhan Pamuk.

Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s foreign minister, said Ankara would publish “a detailed statement” on Cyprus on Tuesday. He did not give details but diplomats said it might include proposals to end trade embargoes and EU aid for the divided island and to revive a United Nations proposal for reunification.

Separately, a judge in Istanbul decided to drop the case against Mr Pamuk for allegedly “insulting Turkish identity”. The decision ended a judicial episode that damaged the country’s image and threatened a serious rift with the EU.

Turkey began a decade-long process of preparing for EU membership in October. Progress has become hostage to the controversy raised by the prosecution of Mr Pamuk and by Greek Cypriot opposition to Ankara’s aspirations, as well as to increased hostility inside Turkey to EU “interference” in Turkish affairs.

Diplomats said Ankara hoped the two developments would remove some obstacles to talks this year. The timing was coincidental but fortunate, they said.

The decision not to pursue a trial of Mr Pamuk came after several weeks of passing the buck between the judicial system and the government, an indication of how sensitive both parties viewed the trial. It appeared on Monday the judge decided to abandon the case after the justice minister declined to involve the government.

The decision was welcomed by the EU and by Mr Pamuk’s supporters, who had accused Turkey of breaching basic rights to free speech in the prosecution of its most celebrated novelist. Olli Rehn, the EU enlargement commissioner in charge of accession talks with Turkey, said it was “good news for freedom of expression” in Turkey.

Mr Pamuk was being prosecuted for remarks he made last year. He said 1m Armenians and 30,000 Kurds had been killed in Turkey in the 20th century but that nobody spoke about the massacres.

Mr Rehn on Monday said article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes “insulting” Turkey or its “identity” a criminal offence, should be scrapped.

He believes that unless Turkey can be shown to have stepped up the pace of social and penal reform by the time the European Commission issues its annual country report in November, Ankara’s EU accession status may be in trouble.

The initiative on Cyprus may help Turkey’s cause, although a Greek Cypriot official on Monday rejected any link between the cases of Mr Pamuk and Cyprus. “One is an obligation for Turkey, the other is an internal matter for the EU, about which we have fundamental concerns,” he said.