WRITTEN QUESTION E-0426/02 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Council. Restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey.
Date: 2002-02-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Kurdistan question, Türkiye, accession to the European Union, freedom of expression, language teaching, linguistic group, public safety, restriction of liberty

C 229 E/86

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

(2002/C 229 E/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0426/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 February 2002)

Subject: Restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey

According to reports in the international press, the Turkish parliament has decided to amend Article 312
of the Penal Code to make it more stringent. It will now be sufficient for there to be a suspicion of a
‘possible’ disturbance of public order to instigate the procedure to punish those responsible. According to
the reports, the entire issue was sparked off by requests from Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin for tuition
in the Kurdish language in schools and universities, which Turkey had undertaken to promote three years
ago.

The Turkish National Security Council interprets the requests from Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin as
‘separatist activities since they concern education in a language other than the official
language’. This
unprecedented development comes on top of the incredible story of Mr Fatih Tas, an editor under threat of
a one-year prison sentence for making the ‘mistake’ of publishing in Turkish a book by the eminent
American intellectual and Harvard professor, Noam Chomsky, entitled ‘American Interventionism’.
Professor Chomsky (who is sharply critical in the book of Turkey and the methods it uses to further the
ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish minority) intends to travel to Turkey on 13 February 2002 to appear
before the court in which the Turkish editor is to stand trial and then go on to Diyarbakir where a large
number of Kurds live.

Is the Council aware of the above measures by the Turkish regime? What is its opinion? Is banning books
and the use of the Kurdish language consistent with bringing Turkey into line with the standards of
conduct befitting a European state?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council is aware that Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code was amended by Act No 4 744 voted on
6 February 2002 by the Turkish Parliament. Paragraph 2 of Article 312 punishing ‘incitement to hostility
against one another’ was in particular amended by the introduction of the notion ‘in a manner that may be
dangerous to public order’. Generally, the amended provisions of the Penal Code carry little improvement
compared to the previously existing legislation, due i.a. to the fact that a broad margin of interpretation is
still left to public prosecutors and judges.

Concerning the way the Turkish authorities are dealing with freedom of expression and the cultural rights
in particular with regard to the requests for tuition in Kurdish
of Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin,
language, the Council does not fail to remind Turkey of its obligations under the accession partnership in
this respect, the forthcoming meeting of the EC-Turkey Association Council held on 16 April 2002
offering a timely new opportunity to do so.

(2002/C 229 E/096)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0428/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 February 2002)

Subject: Cameras in Athens

The Greek press reports that some 20 cameras are to be installed at central points in Athens over the
coming months in order to photograph cars, buses and taxis which transgress the highway code. There are
plans to set up 50 observation posts with 20 mobile cameras moving between them. The installation of
these devices has naturally given rise to legitimate questions concerning the invasion of personal privacy.

What view does the Council take of the Greek authorities’ decision? Is it a breach of Community legislation
on the protection of personal data? Are there any risks associated with the installation of these devices in
terms of an individual’s civil rights and, if so, what are they? In which other Member States have such
devices been installed and how have they been used?