ARTICLE 301 STRIKES AGAIN: PUBLISHER CONVICTED OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001780

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2015
TAGS: PREL PHUM TU
SUBJECT: ARTICLE 301 STRIKES AGAIN: PUBLISHER CONVICTED OF
"INSULTING TURKISH IDENTITY"

REF: A. ANKARA 5233

B. 04 ISTANBUL 374

C. ISTANBUL 1680

Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL DEBORAH K. JONES FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND
(D)


1. (C) Summary: Citing Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code (TPC),an Istanbul court October 7 convicted publisher
Hrant Dink of "insulting Turkish identity" and issued a
six-month suspended sentence. This case, resulting from a
2004 article in Dink's Agos newspaper, was brought by the
same Sisli prosecutor who charged author Orhan Pamuk with a
similar offense (ref a),and vividly illustrates the ability
of nationalist lawyers and judges to impede free speech
despite legal reforms. Many in civil society have vocally
supported Dink, both on principle and on substance, a
relatively new and promising phenomenon. End summary.


2. (SBU) Dink, publisher of the Istanbul-based bi-lingual
Turkish and Armenian Agos newspaper, is active in a variety
of civil society initiatives. Most recently, he spoke at the
"Alternative Armenian Conference" (ref b),where he
passionately conveyed to the audience the attachment Armenian
citizens of Turkey feel to Anatolia. In an October 12
meeting with poloff, Dink said he has had some 20 criminal
cases opened against him for his work throughout the years;
this is the first time he has been convicted.

What Did He Say?
--------------


3. (U) In January and February 2004, Dink published an
eight-part series in Agos which concluded with a focus on
Armenian identity. Dink wrote that Armenians seem unable to
form a healthy identity because it is "bound to whether or
not...Turkish people recognize the genocide...Henceforth the
time has come to remove oneself from this mistake and get the
'Turk' distanced from this active role within the Armenian
identity."


4. (SBU) The language that drew the Istanbul Sisli district
prosecutor's wrath was Dink's message, delivered in somewhat
obscure prose, that Armenians should get over their obsession
with the Turkish "genocide" question by identifying with the
reality of an Armenian nation. Dink told us this language
urges the Armenian diaspora to replace its obsession with
Turks, trauma, and "genocide" with a rediscovery of what it
means to be Armenian. The actual phrase was: "the clean
blood that will fill the vacuum of poisonous blood emerging
through the lack of the 'Turk' is present in the noble vein
that will be established by the Armenian with Armenia. It is
only necessary to be aware of this existence."

The Court Takes Action
--------------


5. (SBU) The prosecutor pressed charges under TPC Article
301 claiming Dink's article was tantamount to equating
Turkish blood with poison. Under Article 301, a person who
explicitly insults being a Turk, the Republic of Turkey, or
the Turkish Parliament faces a prison term from six months to
three years. During deliberations, the court appointed an
independent panel of experts to study the text. The panel
concluded that the offending sentence, taken in context of
the entire series, did not constitute an insult to Turkish
identify. Nevertheless, the court convicted Dink and handed
down a six-month suspended sentence (the prosecutor had asked
for three years).


6. (U) Under the terms of his suspended sentence, Dink will
not be imprisoned unless he commits the same offense within
the next five years. Dink said his lawyer has already filed
an appeal in the case. The Turkish press reported October 13
that the Union of Turkish Jurists -- which had filed suit to
have the "Alternative Armenian" conference postponed in
September -- has now filed a suit with the appeals court in
Ankara arguing that Dink should be issued a harsher sentence.

Reactions
--------------


7. (C) Dink told us he is overwhelmed by the support he
has received following the verdict, although throughout the
trial he maintained a low profile. A variety of well-wishers
have visited his office, and three separate support petitions
are circulating through "list serves" made up of human rights
activists and Turkish and Armenian academics working together
in the United States. Dink told us he even received a call
from an old man in Sivas who said he would pray for him
during his five daily trips to the mosque.


8. (C) Though he had not heard from any government
officials, Dink said AKP's Bursa MP, Ertugrul Yalcinbayir,
and Istanbul's Bakirkoy District CHP Mayor had both called
with messages of support. Dink was also bolstered by EU
Enlargement Commissioner Rehn's mention of his case in a
media interview this past weekend and by calls from EU member
embassy representatives. An EU visitor coming to Turkey next
week sought an appointment, but Dink will be in Paris,
meeting with Armenian organizations in France who are
mobilizing a campaign to support him.

Still Angry About Sabiha?
--------------


9. (C) Dink believes that there may be (unspecified) forces
beyond the prosecutor at work in this case. "It all started
with Sabiha Gokcen last year," he said, referring to an
article published in Agos in February 2004 implying that
Gokcen, the adopted daughter of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was of
Armenian descent. At the time, the claim was reprinted by
the daily Hurriyet newspaper and generated a series of
vicious and insulting reactions by a variety of columnists
and statist and nationalist organizations. (ref c).

What Next?
--------------


10. (C) Also looming for Dink is the February 2006
continuation of a court case brought against him in Urfa
following his presentation at a December 2002 conference on
multiculturalism. This case accuses him of insulting the
state, and it is unclear what impact the October 7 conviction
and suspended sentence will have on its outcome. That Urfa
case likely will go to appeal, too, if he is convicted, and
both could eventually land in the European Court of Human
Rights.


11. (C) Comment: Dink is a controversial figure, both in
Turkey and within the Armenian diaspora, which he often has
accused of being too harsh and hardline. Ironically, the
message leading to his conviction was, he asserts, intended
not to insult Turks, but rather to encourage Armenians to
move on from their obsession with alleged "genocide" to
finding their place in history.


12. (C) Comment, cont'd: Perhaps most noteworthy about
Dink's conviction has been the spirited public defense of
this controversial iconoclast that followed. A number of
journalists and professors have averred that few would have
rallied to Dink's defense five years ago, either on substance
or on principle. While such support does not yet extend to,
for example, a DEHAP activist recently sentenced to six
months in prison for greeting colleagues in Kurdish at the
opening of a meeting, public attitudes in support of free
speech and the democratic process itself are beginning to
change for the better. End comment.
JONES