Article 301 (Turkish Penal Code)

Article 301 is a lèse-majesté law of the Turkish Penal Code making it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish nation, Turkish government institutions, or Turkish national heroes such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. It took effect on June 1, 2005, and was introduced as part of a package of penal law reform in the process preceding the opening of negotiations for Turkish membership of the European Union (EU).^[1]^[2] The original version of the article made it a crime to "insult Turkishness"; on April 30, 2008, the article was amended to change "Turkishness" into "the Turkish nation". Since this article became law, charges have been brought in more than 60 cases, some of which are high-profile.^[3]

On April 30, 2008 a series of changes were made to Article 301, including a new amendment which makes it obligatory to receive the approval of the Minister of Justice to file a case.^[4] This change was made to prevent the possible misuse of the article, especially against high-profile cases, addressing legal holes in the previous version.^[5]

The Great Jurists Union (Turkish: Büyük Hukukçular Birliği) headed by Kemal Kerinçsiz, a Turkish lawyer, is "behind nearly all of Article 301 trials."^[6] Kerinçsiz himself is responsible for forty of the trials,^[7] including the high-profile ones.

^ "Turkey's new penal code touches raw nerves Archived 2017-06-25 at the Wayback Machine," EurActiv June 2, 2005, updated November 14, 2005.
^ Leicht, Justus (2006-02-06). "Turkey: Court drops prosecution of writer Orhan Pamuk". World Socialist Web site. ICFI. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
^ Lea, Richard. "In Istanbul, a writer awaits her day in court" Archived 2012-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, July 24, 2006.
^ CafeSiyaset: 301 yeni hali ile yürürlüğe girdi Archived 2014-08-23 at the Wayback Machine ("New version of Article 301 takes effect") (in Turkish)
^ "Turkey: Update on Campaign to Abolish Article 301 - English Pen". Writers in Prison Committee Bulletin. English Pen. 2008-02-21. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
^ In Turkey, ultra-nationalist lawyer wins supporters as enthusiasm for the EU falls Archived 2008-06-04 at the Wayback Machine (2006-09-06), from Associated Press via International Herald Tribune
^ Rainsford, Sarah (2006-09-21). "Turkish novelist case collapses". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-01.

[1] "Turkey's new penal code touches raw nerves Archived 2017-06-25 at the Wayback Machine," EurActiv June 2, 2005, updated November 14, 2005.

[leicht-2] Leicht, Justus (2006-02-06). "Turkey: Court drops prosecution of writer Orhan Pamuk". World Socialist Web site. ICFI. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-29.

[guardian-3] Lea, Richard. "In Istanbul, a writer awaits her day in court" Archived 2012-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, July 24, 2006.

[4] CafeSiyaset: 301 yeni hali ile yürürlüğe girdi Archived 2014-08-23 at the Wayback Machine ("New version of Article 301 takes effect") (in Turkish)

[5] "Turkey: Update on Campaign to Abolish Article 301 - English Pen". Writers in Prison Committee Bulletin. English Pen. 2008-02-21. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-07-29.

[kerincsiz-6] In Turkey, ultra-nationalist lawyer wins supporters as enthusiasm for the EU falls Archived 2008-06-04 at the Wayback Machine (2006-09-06), from Associated Press via International Herald Tribune

[kerincsizbbc-7] Rainsford, Sarah (2006-09-21). "Turkish novelist case collapses". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-01.

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