The fact that 56 Kurdish mayors are on trial charged with ?aiding and abetting a terrorist organization? in Turkey would seem almost farcical if the charges were not so serious. However, the charges underscore a tension in Turkey between security needs and freedom of expression. Turkey has come under fire for some of its draconian free speech laws. The European Parliament issued a report on the progress of reform in Turkey that, among other things, called for Turkey to abolish or amend Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. Article 301 makes it a crime to insult Turkishness. Recently, Article 301 was used to prosecute Turkish novelist, Elif Shafak, for a work of fiction that discussed a controversial period when the Ottoman Empire was accused of conducting genocide against the Armenians. This subject is very sensitive for Turkey, and although Shafak discussed it within a work of fiction, she was still prosecuted. These charges caused a great deal of outrage in Turkey as well as charges that the law was being abused. However, Shafak was quickly acquitted.
Both the Turkish media and the public welcomed the decision, with the media calling for the suspension of Article 301, claiming that the law was damaging Turkey?s democratic image. To a certain extent, the failure of the Shafak prosecution under Article 301 is a positive sign that despite such a law, the democratic process still works. Both domestic and international opposition to the law should be a wake-up call to Turkish authorities that the law is anachronistic and is damaging to Turkey?s image.
Yet, despite the uproar over the Shafak trial, the charges against the Turkish mayors are also sure to evoke even more controversy. The charges are not the same as the Article 301 controversy, but they are bound to meet the same amount of skepticism. Conversely, Turkish authorities would claim that this case is directly linked to security concerns and that the mayors are openly supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK; Group Profile), a terrorist organization. The 56 mayors wrote to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, asking him to not to close the Kurdish Roj television station in Denmark. The mayors claim their letters are not evidence of support for the PKK, and they are trying to exercise their right of free expression. However, the Turkish government claims that Roj TV is a propaganda tool for the PKK and should be closed. The Danish government, which has refused Ankara?s demands, has also expressed outrage that the Kurdish mayors are facing prosecution for writing letters.
The Turkish government has expressed frustration at what officials see as a double standard in certain western European countries regarding the PKK. While the PKK has been declared a terrorist organization by the US, EU, and other entities, the Turkish government is outraged that the PKK is allowed to maintain media offices in European capitals. Turkey has convinced the British and French governments to close down some stations, but Denmark is holding firm. Supporters of stations like Roj TV believe that the station is a public service for the Kurdish community and broadcasts important political and cultural information. Conversely, critics of Kurdish programming believe that the stations are open propaganda tools for the PKK. Unfortunately for the Turkish government, they seem to be in a no-win situation. With all the scrutiny upon them, especially by the European Union, which is evaluating Turkey?s human rights record and democratic freedoms, it looks like the Turkish government is overreacting or reacting too harshly to the Kurdish mayors? letter writing campaign. It is yet another strike against Turkey?s image. A better approach would have been to go on a public relations campaign about Roj TV and explain why other countries agreed to ban particular programming. While it may be easier to prosecute the mayors, they are really not a national security concern, but the prosecution may, indeed, become a national and international concern.