NOTORIOUS ARTICLE 301
Turkey, touting itself the only Muslim majority secular democracy in the world, now faces a test to see how committed it is to practicing democracy. In late October the European Union required Turkey to modify its decidedly un-democractic Article 301 or seriously jeopardize its relationship with the EU. Turkish Article 301 states that insulting Turkishness is punishable by six months to three years in prison. Just this year 99 persons have been charged violating Article 301. Most recently two Turkish men were charged with violating 301 after police raided their church office. Both men, formerly Muslims, had been active responding to inquirers in greater Istanbul. The police released them after taking their computers and interrogating them over two days. In speaking with the prosecutor one of the men said, “I am a Christian, and I am a Turk. I will keep on sharing my faith. We are not ashamed to be Christians, and we are not hiding anything.” Their case goes before the courts November 23.
What exactly was their crime? What was the crime of the other 97 cases? What exactly is “insulting Turkishness?” It appears from the charges brought against the two Turkish evangelists that contrary to public statements of Turkey’s secularity, Turkishness is in fact bound up with Muslimness and anything that questions the nature of Islam also questions Turkishness.
To the Western mindset this is rather hard to understand. Is Germanness synonymous with Lutheranness or Catholicness? Is Frenchness equal to Laiche? Is Americanness the same as Christianness? That might come as a surprise to my Jewish friends in New York or my Buddhist friends in Los Angeles. Nationality, ethnicity, and religion cannot be so easily melted into one. Unless you are in Turkey.
So Turkey is in the dock, rather, Article 301 is in the dock. Someone has called Turkey the “last Old World totalitarian government.” Article 301 certainly has the look of an unappealing legal dinosaur, designed to suppress freedoms of all kinds. Perhaps 2006 will be its last year to be used to enforce a vague concept that seems to encompass so much, but actually is empty of meaning except for what a few in power give it to achieve their aims.
> Read More Information About Us
> More Articles Written By Our Staff
- Community Invited To Paint Rocks For Urban League Project - April 26, 2024
- The “Bad Guys” In Your Garden & What To Do About Them - April 26, 2024
- Why Voting In The Primary Election Matters - April 26, 2024