No French referendum on turkish accession

[KungFugazi]

look at article 301.

Interesting.

Article 301 is a controversial article of the Turkish penal code making it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish ethnicity, or Turkish government institutions. It took effect on June 1, 2005, and was introduced as part of a package of penal-law reform in the process preceding the opening of negotiations for Turkish membership of the European Union (EU), in order to bring Turkey up to the Union standards.[1][2] Before the amendments made on April 30, 2008 it used to make it a crime to insult "Turkishness". Since this Article became law, charges have been brought in more than 60 cases, some of which are high-profile.[3] The Great Jurists Union (Turkish: Büyük Hukukçular Birliği) headed by Kemal Kerinçsiz, a Turkish lawyer, is "behind nearly all of Article 301 trials".[4] Kerinçsiz himself is responsible for forty of the trials,[5] including the high-profile ones.

On April 30, 2008 a series of changes were made on the Article 301, including a new amendment which makes it obligatory to get the approval of the minister of justice to file a case.[6] This change was made to prevent the possible misuse of the article, especially against high profile cases, filling up the legal holes of the older version.[7]

What was covered by Article 301

Before amendments were made to Article 301 on April 30, 2008, the article stated the following:[8]

1. A person who publicly denigrates Turkishness, the Republic or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and three years.
2. A person who publicly denigrates the Government of the Republic of Turkey, the judicial institutions of the State, the military or security organizations shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and two years.
3. In cases where denigration of Turkishness is committed by a Turkish citizen in another country the punishment shall be increased by one third.
4. Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime.

Article 301 (Turkish penal code) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Christine Murray]

Article 3.3 on rights was removed from lisbon and attached as protocol during the 48 hour renegotiation of Nice 2, at the behest of U.K and Poland. Blair Negotiated for the UK and Sarkozy was responsible for the Treaty.

[Christine Murray]

This link is the Turkish Weekly News congratulating themselves on amendment
to Article 301, the sidebar indicates the working relationship with Italy:

Turkish Weekly Opinion - Amendment in Article 301 and Its Effects to EU-Turkey Relations

According to International PEN , civil society activists, students, artists
and journalists are still being repressed and that the amendment in 2008
did not go far enough.

The other thread on the issue:

http://www.politics.ie/europw/38360-...ession-eu.html


Orhan Pamuk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[lostexpectation]

surely if we wanted turkey to join we require the military to weaken thus giving the chance for the Muslim politicians to gain more influence

[Christine Murray]

Border disputes and the Articles on Rights.

I am tired of marriages of convenience that promote military capability
and trade above and beyond the actual people who live in the EU.

Theres hotspots all over the place and mostly those who go with rapid
expansion tend to ignore simple things like ordinary rights, along with
ignoring the very things that were agreed post WWII in terms of
peaceful arbritration.

[Trampas]

surely if we wanted turkey to join we require the military to weaken thus giving the chance for the Muslim politicians to gain more influence

Not to mention 2,000 km of EU frontiers with Iran, Iraq and Syria, inter alia. No doubt the Turkish border guards will be busy.

[eurosceptic]

The EU schengen coutries will have a federal border police before too long. The turks wont be controlling their eastern border. Fortunatley we have an opt-out.

[Trampas]

The EU schengen coutries will have a federal border police before too long. The turks wont be controlling their eastern border. Fortunatley we have an opt-out.

Sounds like an attractive posting.

[forest]

you are sounding like turkey is joining next year
Its atleast 10 years away
we will see Albania and I believe Belarus in the EU before Turkey

[Trampas]

you are sounding like turkey is joining next year
Its atleast 10 years away

Any time is too soon. What an inheritance is to be bequeathed to our descendants, and all of it against the wishes of the people of Europe.