Justice Minister Says They Do Not Have A Plan To Rescind Article 301 Of TCK

ANTALYA - Turkey`s justice minister said Thursday that they did not have a plan to rescind the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) about freedom of expression.
Mehmet Ali Sahin told reporters during a meeting in the southern province of Antalya, "there are similar rules in many European countries. The European Parliament calls us to revoke the Article 301, but it should first look at the rules in the EU-member countries. We have already enacted an amendment to the Article to resolve problems stemming from freedom of expression. We do not have a plan to rescind the Article 301 of the TCK."
According to the Article 301, those who insult Turkish nation, state, parliament, legal bodies, government, military or police openly shall be sentenced to imprisonment terms up to 2 years. Explaining views aiming at criticism will not be a crime.
Under an amendment passed by the Turkish parliament on April 30th, 2008, the term "Turkishness" in the article is replaced by the "Turkish nation," and the term "Republic" is replaced with "State of the Republic of Turkey."
(UK-AÖ)