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Hurriyet, Turkey
Nov 26 2010
Yet more `insulting to Turkishness' nonsense
Friday, November 26, 2010
MUSTAFA AKYOL
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code has become notorious for good
reasons. It used to penalize `insulting Turkishness,' which is a very
vague term that could be interpreted as loosely as the judiciary
wanted. Thus, many liberals who criticized the dark side of the
establishment, or some dark episodes in Turkish history, were put on
trial, and some were sentenced. For worse, after being found guilty of
`insulting Turkishness,' Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was
assassinated by a young fascist.
In 2008, following widespread criticism, the government played with
the wording of the article, and introduced the need for permission of
the Justice Ministry to file a case. Since then, the number of Article
301 cases dramatically declined, and many thought the issue was
solved.
Kütahyalı and MuÄ?lalı
Well, not really. Just two weeks ago, another 301 case came out. This
time, it is the allegedly quintessential institution of `Turkishness'
that felt insulted: the Turkish military. The chief of staff,
apparently, did not like what Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, a young, vocal and
liberal columnist for daily Taraf, has written about them. Hence they
asked for the permission of the justice ministry to put him on trial.
One piece of Kütahyalı that the chief of staff found insulting was
titled, `You are not a statesman Gen BaÅ?buÄ?, you are a state
employee.' It argued that the chief of staff is not an elected
statesman who can make independent decisions, and that he is rather a
`state employee' whose job is to take orders from the elected
government. How that can amount to an insult is beyond me. The
minister of justice felt the same way, too, apparently, so the chief
of staff's appeal was declined.
But Kütahyalı was not so lucky with regards to another piece of his,
titled `You are either despicable or stupid.' These were indeed strong
words to use against the military, or anyone else, but let's see why
they were used.
The topic of the piece was a military garrison in the Ã-zalp district
of the southeastern city of Van. In 2004, the garrison there was
officially named after Mustafa MuÄ?lalı, a deceased general. Many
people in the region and the media protested then, and have continued
to protest since.
Why? Because general MuÄ?lalı, who served in the 1940s in the same
district as the gendarmerie commander, ordered the massacre of 33
Kurdish villagers. The poor men were arrested in July 1943 for
smuggling animals over the Iranian border and the court had released
them for a lack of evidence. But the hawkish Gen. MuÄ?lalı ordered
their re-arrest. He then had them taken to an empty field in the
countryside and had them shot dead. He also ordered a document to be
prepared saying the victims were `shot when trying to escape.'
Quite tellingly, nobody touched this mass-murdering general for years.
That was the time that Turkey was under the single-party dictatorship
of the all-militarist Republican People's Party, or CHP. Nobody could
dare question the crimes of the regime.
Things started to change in 1946, when an opposition party, the
Democrat Party, or DP, led by Adnan Menderes, was allowed to compete.
The DP joined the parliament that year, and began to question some of
the wrongdoings of the regime, including the `MuÄ?lalı Affair.' Thanks
to this political pressure, MuÄ?lalı was taken to court. But only after
the DP came to power in April 1950, at the first free and fair
elections of the Republic, MuÄ?lalı was found guilty: He was sentenced
for 20 years in prison. Next year, at the age of 71, he died in jail.
Other generals felt for the man, and started to despise the DP
government, which they also disliked for not being secularist enough.
Here were the early seeds of the military coup of 1960, by which the
generals would attack the DP, imprison all its senior members, and
execute Prime Minister Menderes and two of his ministers.
The 33 bullets
Meanwhile, the `MuÄ?lalı Affair' found its way to public consciousness.
Kurdish poet Ahmed Arif wrote `The 33 Bullets,' a poem referring to
the 33 victims of the tragic event. In the minds of the Kurdish
citizens, the name MuÄ?lalı became a symbol of all the suffering they
went through under republican militarism.
And, in 2004, when a Turkish government was following the footsteps of
the DP, and trying to win the hearts and minds of its Kurdish
citizens, the name Mustafa MuÄ?lalı became controversial once again.
For, as I said, it was given by the Turkish military to the garrison
which is exactly in the same area where the infamous `33 bullets' were
shot.
One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that such a
move will be found offensive, threatening, and provocative by Turkey's
Kurdish citizens. That's why, apparently, Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, an
advocate of Kurdish rights, thought that this was a `despicable' and
`stupid' thing to do.
If you tend to agree, and if you happen to be a Turkish citizen, I
would not suggest saying it out loud. For you might face trial for
`insulting the military' as well. We, unfortunately, are not living in
a fully free country yet.
From: A. Papazian
Nov 26 2010
Yet more `insulting to Turkishness' nonsense
Friday, November 26, 2010
MUSTAFA AKYOL
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code has become notorious for good
reasons. It used to penalize `insulting Turkishness,' which is a very
vague term that could be interpreted as loosely as the judiciary
wanted. Thus, many liberals who criticized the dark side of the
establishment, or some dark episodes in Turkish history, were put on
trial, and some were sentenced. For worse, after being found guilty of
`insulting Turkishness,' Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was
assassinated by a young fascist.
In 2008, following widespread criticism, the government played with
the wording of the article, and introduced the need for permission of
the Justice Ministry to file a case. Since then, the number of Article
301 cases dramatically declined, and many thought the issue was
solved.
Kütahyalı and MuÄ?lalı
Well, not really. Just two weeks ago, another 301 case came out. This
time, it is the allegedly quintessential institution of `Turkishness'
that felt insulted: the Turkish military. The chief of staff,
apparently, did not like what Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, a young, vocal and
liberal columnist for daily Taraf, has written about them. Hence they
asked for the permission of the justice ministry to put him on trial.
One piece of Kütahyalı that the chief of staff found insulting was
titled, `You are not a statesman Gen BaÅ?buÄ?, you are a state
employee.' It argued that the chief of staff is not an elected
statesman who can make independent decisions, and that he is rather a
`state employee' whose job is to take orders from the elected
government. How that can amount to an insult is beyond me. The
minister of justice felt the same way, too, apparently, so the chief
of staff's appeal was declined.
But Kütahyalı was not so lucky with regards to another piece of his,
titled `You are either despicable or stupid.' These were indeed strong
words to use against the military, or anyone else, but let's see why
they were used.
The topic of the piece was a military garrison in the Ã-zalp district
of the southeastern city of Van. In 2004, the garrison there was
officially named after Mustafa MuÄ?lalı, a deceased general. Many
people in the region and the media protested then, and have continued
to protest since.
Why? Because general MuÄ?lalı, who served in the 1940s in the same
district as the gendarmerie commander, ordered the massacre of 33
Kurdish villagers. The poor men were arrested in July 1943 for
smuggling animals over the Iranian border and the court had released
them for a lack of evidence. But the hawkish Gen. MuÄ?lalı ordered
their re-arrest. He then had them taken to an empty field in the
countryside and had them shot dead. He also ordered a document to be
prepared saying the victims were `shot when trying to escape.'
Quite tellingly, nobody touched this mass-murdering general for years.
That was the time that Turkey was under the single-party dictatorship
of the all-militarist Republican People's Party, or CHP. Nobody could
dare question the crimes of the regime.
Things started to change in 1946, when an opposition party, the
Democrat Party, or DP, led by Adnan Menderes, was allowed to compete.
The DP joined the parliament that year, and began to question some of
the wrongdoings of the regime, including the `MuÄ?lalı Affair.' Thanks
to this political pressure, MuÄ?lalı was taken to court. But only after
the DP came to power in April 1950, at the first free and fair
elections of the Republic, MuÄ?lalı was found guilty: He was sentenced
for 20 years in prison. Next year, at the age of 71, he died in jail.
Other generals felt for the man, and started to despise the DP
government, which they also disliked for not being secularist enough.
Here were the early seeds of the military coup of 1960, by which the
generals would attack the DP, imprison all its senior members, and
execute Prime Minister Menderes and two of his ministers.
The 33 bullets
Meanwhile, the `MuÄ?lalı Affair' found its way to public consciousness.
Kurdish poet Ahmed Arif wrote `The 33 Bullets,' a poem referring to
the 33 victims of the tragic event. In the minds of the Kurdish
citizens, the name MuÄ?lalı became a symbol of all the suffering they
went through under republican militarism.
And, in 2004, when a Turkish government was following the footsteps of
the DP, and trying to win the hearts and minds of its Kurdish
citizens, the name Mustafa MuÄ?lalı became controversial once again.
For, as I said, it was given by the Turkish military to the garrison
which is exactly in the same area where the infamous `33 bullets' were
shot.
One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that such a
move will be found offensive, threatening, and provocative by Turkey's
Kurdish citizens. That's why, apparently, Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, an
advocate of Kurdish rights, thought that this was a `despicable' and
`stupid' thing to do.
If you tend to agree, and if you happen to be a Turkish citizen, I
would not suggest saying it out loud. For you might face trial for
`insulting the military' as well. We, unfortunately, are not living in
a fully free country yet.
From: A. Papazian