What is it?
A self-defeating, oxymoronic article of the Turkish penal code that denigrates Turkey in the eyes of the world by criminalizing the denigration of Turkey in the eyes of the world. Unfortunately this colossal irony is lost on reactionary ultranationalist lawyers who seek to keep writers on the straight and narrow path of official state doctrines of history by prosecuting them with the aim of sentencing those found guilty for up to three years in prison for insulting Turkishness, the Turkish Republic, Parliament, the government, judiciary, or the military. Although the article does not criminalise criticism, nor does it define what differentiates ‘critique’ from ‘insult’ – a mouth-watering loophole voraciously plugged by aforementioned lawyers.
Where does it happen?
Mostly on TV, where we get to watch internationally-renowned Turkish intellectuals get roughed up by angry mobs flashing fascist grey wolf salutes and screaming ‘FILTHY TRAITOR!’ outside a congested courthouse in scenes reminiscent of 17th century Salem. It also ‘happens’ in newspapers where we get to read of all the appalled and disgusted reactions to Article 301 from all over the world every time another Turkish intellectual is treated like an armed and dangerous criminal in his/her own country for simply writing or saying something in public that doesn’t fit the official state view on the matter.
What to say…
It’s best to keep doing what we’ve been doing for the past 80 years or so: to not say anything on the touchier issues of Turkish history and let the state speak for us instead. Simply ignoring traumatic historical events in the hope they’ll go away is the tried and true policy so far. Besides, it’s difficult for an ostrich to speak anyway when his head’s stuck in that secure and suffocating sand.
What not to say…
Don’t say ‘shit’, ‘fuck’, ‘bastard’, ‘pig’ or ‘asshole’ in the same sentence with the word ‘Turk’. Don’t say ‘genocide’ in the same sentence with the word ‘Armenian’ (unless the former is preceded by the word ‘alleged’). Don’t refer to ‘Kurdistan’ at all. Don’t call Istanbul ‘Constantinople’. Wait a minute, I think I screwed up…
Where to start?
1. Use a pen name, just in case. 2. Screw EU hypocrites who stood by as Austria sentenced British pseudo-historian David Irving to three years imprisonment for holocaust denial, thereby making a martyr out of a moron (nice going Austria) AND who don’t mind that many EU member states have similar laws to the Turkish 301 that criminalise ‘insulting religious feelings’ or saying anything deemed ‘anti-Semitic’. 3. Realize that we don’t need to use armed coercion against someone for just saying something. I mean, what good is having a state if it can’t even guarantee your most basic rights: i.e. being able to express an opinion without fear of persecution?
A self-defeating, oxymoronic article of the Turkish penal code that denigrates Turkey in the eyes of the world by criminalizing the denigration of Turkey in the eyes of the world. Unfortunately this colossal irony is lost on reactionary ultranationalist lawyers who seek to keep writers on the straight and narrow path of official state doctrines of history by prosecuting them with the aim of sentencing those found guilty for up to three years in prison for insulting Turkishness, the Turkish Republic, Parliament, the government, judiciary, or the military. Although the article does not criminalise criticism, nor does it define what differentiates ‘critique’ from ‘insult’ – a mouth-watering loophole voraciously plugged by aforementioned lawyers.
Where does it happen?
Mostly on TV, where we get to watch internationally-renowned Turkish intellectuals get roughed up by angry mobs flashing fascist grey wolf salutes and screaming ‘FILTHY TRAITOR!’ outside a congested courthouse in scenes reminiscent of 17th century Salem. It also ‘happens’ in newspapers where we get to read of all the appalled and disgusted reactions to Article 301 from all over the world every time another Turkish intellectual is treated like an armed and dangerous criminal in his/her own country for simply writing or saying something in public that doesn’t fit the official state view on the matter.
What to say…
It’s best to keep doing what we’ve been doing for the past 80 years or so: to not say anything on the touchier issues of Turkish history and let the state speak for us instead. Simply ignoring traumatic historical events in the hope they’ll go away is the tried and true policy so far. Besides, it’s difficult for an ostrich to speak anyway when his head’s stuck in that secure and suffocating sand.
What not to say…
Don’t say ‘shit’, ‘fuck’, ‘bastard’, ‘pig’ or ‘asshole’ in the same sentence with the word ‘Turk’. Don’t say ‘genocide’ in the same sentence with the word ‘Armenian’ (unless the former is preceded by the word ‘alleged’). Don’t refer to ‘Kurdistan’ at all. Don’t call Istanbul ‘Constantinople’. Wait a minute, I think I screwed up…
Where to start?
1. Use a pen name, just in case. 2. Screw EU hypocrites who stood by as Austria sentenced British pseudo-historian David Irving to three years imprisonment for holocaust denial, thereby making a martyr out of a moron (nice going Austria) AND who don’t mind that many EU member states have similar laws to the Turkish 301 that criminalise ‘insulting religious feelings’ or saying anything deemed ‘anti-Semitic’. 3. Realize that we don’t need to use armed coercion against someone for just saying something. I mean, what good is having a state if it can’t even guarantee your most basic rights: i.e. being able to express an opinion without fear of persecution?
