ANKARA - Turkey's justice minister announced on Sunday that the parliament will debate the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) in the following week.
Article 301 makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness".
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said the parliament will discuss an amendment to Article 301 in the following week.
"When the president was told that he would be authorized, he did not oppose," Sahin told a program broadcast live on private Kanal 24 TV channel.
The bill authorizes the president to give his consent for any lawsuit filed on charges of this article.
Sahin said the expression "Turkishness" is replaced with "Turkish nation" in the bill, and told the TV channel that nobody has the right to ethnically insult any other person.
The government is open to any proposals during the discussion process, he also said.
Commenting on a constitutional amendment bill, Sahin said the bill will regulate the principles that political parties has to obey.
Sahin said there are some expressions in European Union (EU) criteria and acquis that political parties can be closed only if they resort to or incite violence.
"Therefore we have to make changes on the articles of the Constitution regarding the principles political parties have to obey," he also said.
Sahin told the TV channel that the bill includes such arrangements, but their Justice & Development (AK) Party is thinking whether to submit a separate proposal about these arrangements after the top court of Turkey decided to hear a closure case against their party.
The minister said party chairman and premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make the final decision on this matter.
The top court of Turkey decided on March 31st to examine an indictment on closure of the ruling AK Party.
(BRC)