Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA7242
2005-12-12 07:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKEY UNDER FIRE FOR HIGH-PROFILE SPEECH CASES

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM OSCE TU 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007242 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY UNDER FIRE FOR HIGH-PROFILE SPEECH CASES

Classified by Ambassador Ross Wilson; reasons 1.4 b and d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007242

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY UNDER FIRE FOR HIGH-PROFILE SPEECH CASES

Classified by Ambassador Ross Wilson; reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: Turkish prosecutors have recently opened a
number of speech-related cases against high-profile writers
and intellectuals, drawing sharp criticism from EU
Enlargement Commissioner Rehn and others. The number of such
cases has actually dropped in recent years. However,
political activists unknown in the West were often jailed in
the past for controversial speech, whereas today well-known
figures like novelist Orhan Pamuk, emboldened by recent legal
reforms, are testing the new boundaries of free speech. A
GOT official averred to us that prosecutions for non-violent
speech will cease once courts adjust to the reforms.
However, the fundamental problem lies in the un-reformed
mentality of GOT officials, starting with PM Erdogan, who
have yet to fully accept freedom of speech in its broadest
form as a core value. End Summary.

--------------
Pamuk, Others Charged for Statements
--------------


2. (C) In the wake of the historic October 3 opening of
Turkey's EU accession talks, a series of high-profile court
cases has raised doubts about the country's commitment to
freedom of expression. Intellectuals in the West continue to
rally in support of Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, who faces
criminal charges for saying that one million Armenians and
30,000 Kurds have been killed in Turkey; his trial is set to
begin December 16. Since October 3, Turkish prosecutors have
pursued trumped-up charges against a number of other
well-known journalists and intellectuals. Hrant Dink, editor
of the Istanbul-based Armenian community newspaper Agos, has
been convicted of "insulting Turkish identity." Prosecutors
have charged publisher Fatih Tas with insulting "Turkish
identity" and Ataturk by publishing a Turkish edition of a
book on the arms trade by an American scholar. Professors
Baskin Oran and Ibrahim Kaboglu are preparing to defend
themselves against charges of "humiliating the judiciary" and
"inciting hatred" in a report they prepared on minorities in

Turkey. The Supreme Court recently upheld the 2002
conviction of journalist Burak Bekdil on criminal charges for
a column he wrote about corruption in the judiciary.

--------------
Rehn Calls Cases "Particularly Serious"
--------------


3. (U) This trend has not escaped the EU's attention. During
a November 23 speech before the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary
Committee, Enlargement Commissioner Rehn listed freedom of
speech as the top priority the GOT needs to address to
advance its candidacy. Rehn warned that the recent,
high-profile cases are "of particularly serious concern" and
called on the GOT to "ensure that the judiciary system
functions in line with European standards." Rehn accused
members of the Turkish judiciary of acting "as if they had
not noticed that Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe
and negotiating for membership in the EU, where pluralism and
free speech are basic values which cannot be compromised."


4. (U) Turkey has made progress on freedom of expression in
recent years. The capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in
1999 helped reduce, somewhat, the state's sensitivity to use
of the Kurdish language and the open expression of the
Kurdish cultural identity. The EU reform process has further
extended the boundaries of expression on a range of sensitive
topics. Prosecutors are opening fewer court cases based on
controversial, but non-violent, expression, and courts are
acquitting a higher proportion of defendants in such cases.

--------------
Intellectuals Emboldened By Reforms
--------------


5. (C) So what explains the recent series of high-profile
prosecutions? Oya Aydin, attorney for professors Oran and
Kaboglu, told us the new boundaries on expression are broader
than before, but less clear. In the past, she said, student
activists and union organizers unknown in the West were

ANKARA 00007242 002 OF 003


routinely prosecuted and jailed for speaking out, and the
outside world paid little attention. Today, well-known
figures like her clients, and Pamuk, feel emboldened by the
reform process. They are testing the new boundaries, and
regularly finding themselves on the wrong side. Five years
ago, Baskin Oran and Orhan Pamuk would not have dared to say
what they said, Aydin averred.


6. (U) Prosecutors charged Oran, Ankara University
international relations professor, and Kaboglu, Marmara
University law professor, for their roles as principal
authors of a 2004 report on minorities in Turkey. The
report, adopted by the GOT's Human Rights Consultation Board,
stated that Turkey continues to apply a narrow, legalistic
definition of "minority" based on a misinterpretation of the
1923 Lausanne Treaty. The report further noted that
non-Muslim Turkish citizens are effectively barred from
careers in state institutions, and called on the GOT to adopt
a broader concept of minority consistent with contemporary
Western societies.


7. (U) The professors are charged under two articles of the
Turkish Penal Code: Article 301, which outlaws speech that
"humiliates" the government, the state and its institutions,
"Turkish identity," or Ataturk; and Article 216, which
prohibits speech that incites "hatred or enmity" in a manner
that threatens public order. The indictment is typical of
Turkey's free speech cases. Prosecutors often seek to punish
those who criticize state institutions, on the grounds that
such criticism constitutes a security threat.

--------------
Vague Laws Fail to Protect Speech
--------------


8. (U) Like many of our contacts, Burak Bekdil told us the
problem with Turkey's speech-related laws is that the
concepts are not defined. What does it mean, for example, to
"humiliate" the state? And at what point does critical
speech threaten public order? This lack of definitional
clarity -- gained in the U.S., for example, through decades
of case law -- offers prosecutors broad latitude to press
charges.


9. (C) Bekdil was convicted in 2002 of "insulting the
judiciary" in a column he wrote asserting that the Turkish
judicial system is corrupt and that "an ordinary Turk would
probably have one in a million chance for a fair trial if he
is foolish enough to trust Turkish courts and judges." The
Supreme Court in November upheld the verdict. Bekdil noted
to us that the judge who initiated the case against him is
currently on trial for corruption, essentially proving
Bekdil's thesis.


10. (C) The court handed Bekdil a 20-month suspended prison
sentence, meaning that he could be imprisoned if he is
convicted for the same crime within the next five years.
This will have a chilling effect on his writing. "I would be
crazy to criticize the judiciary again," he said. Official
Turkey has not yet accepted the idea that speech-related
prosecutions constitute harassment that inhibits free
expression regardless of the final verdict. Constitutional
Court President Tugcu, for example, recently dismissed the
importance of the Pamuk case by assuring us that Pamuk would
not be imprisoned, echoing comments we hear often from GOT
officials.

--------------
MOJ Official: Courts Need Time to Adjust
--------------


11. (C) Aykut Kilic, foreign relations director at the
Ministry of Justice, averred to us that Turkey's
speech-related problems will be solved with time. The Penal
Code has recently been amended, and judges are adjusting to
the new language. If lower courts make mistakes, he said,
the appeals court will overrule them and establish the kind
of jurisprudence that will prevent such prosecutions in the
future. Kilic maintained that the most egregious cases are
pursued by older prosecutors who are not willing to adapt to

ANKARA 00007242 003.2 OF 003


the reforms.


12. (C) Aydin, however, rejects that argument. She noted
that the prosecutor who opened the case against Oran and
Kaboglu was appointed by the ruling AK Party (AKP) and is
known to be close to the AKP leadership. Moreover, FM Gul
and other high-level GOT officials angrily and publicly
denounced her clients when they released their report on
minorities.


13. (C) Like other contacts, Aydin pointed to the mentality
of Turkish officials as the real obstacle to free expression,
rather than the wording of the Penal Code. Aydin referred to
the numerous speech-related lawsuits PM Erdogan has brought
against cartoonists who have lampooned him, as well as
against writers and demonstrators whose speech he considered
personally insulting, as evidence that the GOT leadership has
not embraced the Western concept of free expression. Yusuf
Alatas, president of the Human Rights Association, said the
PM's thin skin is a symptom of a society where the "sacred
state" and its leaders are viewed as a father who always
knows what is best. Our leaders still think like sultans,
Alatas said.

--------------
Comment: Standing Voltaire on His Head
--------------


14. (C) Voltaire defined the Western concept of free speech
when he said he would "defend to the death" the right of
another to disagree with him. We can deal with individual
cases, even high-profile ones, and perhaps the judiciary will
gradually get its house in order. The core problem, though,
remains Turkey's leaders, who, despite recent reforms, are
prepared to defend only the rights of those who agree with
them.


15. (C) PM Erdogan was once jailed for reciting an Islamic
poem. The experience has led him to support those
like-minded Turks who, for example, want to criticize the
official ban on headscarves in universities. But he has
shown no tolerance for those who criticize him or his
government, or who speak out on sensitive topics unrelated to
Islam. While there is broad freedom of expression in Turkey,
it will require additional work to convince Turks that this
mst include the right to criticize and clear guarantees to
protect that right.
WILSON