There are no plans rescind article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said while attending a meeting in the southern province of Antalya. “There are similar rules in many European countries,”he said.
“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.”
Article 301 covers the crime of insulting the Turkish nation, state, parliament, legal bodies, government, military or police. Those found guilty of breaching article 301 can be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of up to two years.
Article 301 was recently amended, with the term insulting “Turkishness” replaced with the phrase insulting the “Turkish nation,” and the term “Republic” being replaced with the words “the State of the Republic of Turkey.
