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### Viewing cable 06ANKARA4456, ROGUE LAWYER STRIKES AGAIN; PARLIAMENT MAY TAKE

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
06ANKARA4456 | 2006-08-03 10:19 | 2011-04-07 10:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Ankara

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    VZCZCXRO9142
    PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
    DE RUEHAK #4456/01 2151019
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 031019Z AUG 06
    FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7640
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
    RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
    RUEKDAI/DIA WASHDC
    RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
    RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
    RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//
    RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
    RUEUITH/TLO ANKARA TU
    RUEHAK/TSR ANKARA TU
    RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004456

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2021
    TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU
    SUBJECT: ROGUE LAWYER STRIKES AGAIN; PARLIAMENT MAY TAKE
    ACTION TO REVISE ARTICLE 301

    REF: A. 05 ISTANBUL 1780
         ¶B. 05 ISTANBUL 2058
         ¶C. ISTANBUL 172
         ¶D. ANKARA 3714
         ¶E. ANKARA 3985

    Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner for Reasons 1.4
    (b, d)

    This is a joint Consulate Istanbul/Embassy Ankara report.

    ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Novelist Elif Safak has been charged with
    "insulting Turkish identity" under Article 301 of the Turkish
    Penal Code.  Safak was charged as a result of a criminal
    complaint filed by ultranationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz.
    Kerincsiz has exploited Article 301, which targets those who
    insult Turkish identity or the Turkish Republic, to harass
    countless writers and academics.  The GOT has asked for
    patience to permit appropriate jurisprudence concerning
    Article 301 to develop.  However, Kerincsiz,s complaints may
    well force the GOT to confront amending the article head-on
    before October, when the EU, already highly critical of the
    law, publishes its progress report on Turkey. End Summary.

    ----------------------------
    The Latest Case:  Elif Safak
    ----------------------------

    ¶2. (SBU) Elif Safak, a writer and assistant professor at the
    University of Arizona (and 7 months pregnant), has been
    charged with two counts of insulting the Turkish identity
    under Turkish Penal Code (TPC) Article 301.  In her novel
    published in Turkish in March as "Baba ve Pic" (The Father
    and the Bastard), characters discuss the Armenian genocide.
    Kemal Kerincsiz, a lawyer from the ultranationalist Grand
    Lawyers, Association, filed a complaint in June with
    Istanbul's Beyoglu District Court, claiming that the book
    violated Article 301 and insulted Turkish identity. Although
    the initial investigation concluded that there was no basis
    for charges, Kerincsiz appealed and a higher court ordered
    the prosecutor to indict Safak, her translator, and the
    publisher.  No court date has been set, but Safak told us
    that she believes the court case will be heard after the
    August judicial recess.  Safak is due to deliver her baby in
    late September and her attorney believes this will help her
    case.  Safak faces six months to three years in jail if
    convicted.

    ---------------------------------------------
    Rogue Lawyer Kerincsiz Uses Article 301 Again
    ---------------------------------------------

    ¶3. (U) Article 301 states that "a person who explicitly
    insults being a Turk, the Republic, or Turkish Grand National
    Assembly, shall be imposed a penalty of imprisonment for a
    term of six months to three years."  It is the new version of
    Article 312 under the old TPC.  The new TPC went into effect
    in June 2005.  According to news reports, at least 60 writers
    and journalists have been charged under Article 301,
    including Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian newspaper Agos,
    who was convicted and given a 6-month suspended sentence (Ref
    A). The number of those who have had investigations opened
    and closed without charges is unknown.

    ¶4. (U)  Kerincsiz and his ultranationalist, right-wing
    organization are anti-EU, anti-NATO, and anti-U.S.  We
    requested a meeting with Kerincsiz, who declined, arguing
    that it would be inappropriate for a member of his
    organization to meet with "an agent of a foreign power."  He
    later published his rejection of the meeting request in the
    MHP publication "Yeni Cag."  Kerincsiz is a 46-year old
    attorney who first entered the limelight when he began filing
    cases soon after the passage of Article 301.  Once a case is
    filed, prosecutors are obligated to conduct a preliminary
    investigation before deciding whether further to pursue a
    case.  A sampling of other Kerincsiz-brought cases includes:

    -- a complaint against a conference on Armenia at Istanbul's
    Bogazici University in September 2005.  The Istanbul
    Administrative Court decided order the cancellation of the

    ANKARA 00004456  002 OF 002

    conference in a controversial two-to-one decision.  A
    regional administrative court later annulled the lower court
    decision on jurisdictional grounds (Ref B);

    -- a complaint filed in December 2005 against five
    journalists who had criticized the court decision to cancel
    the Armenia conference.  The court later dropped the charges
    (Ref C);

    -- a complaint filed in June 2006 against the Armenian
    Patriarch Karekin II for "insulting Turkishness" by alleging
    that Turks committed genocide.  A prosecutor is currently
    investigating the complaint; and

    -- a complaint filed in June 2006 against the Ecumenical
    Patriarch Bartholomew I and other Greek Orthodox clergy for
    conducting a religious service in clerical robes.  A
    prosecutor is investigating the complaint (Ref D).

    ------------------------------------------
    Government May Finally Need to Take Action
    ------------------------------------------

    ¶5. (C) The GOT had earlier asked for patience and hoped that
    jurisprudence would be developed to remove the ambiguities in
    the law and its implementation.  As AKP Vice Chairman and MP
    Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat explained to us, the introduction of
    the new TPC had wiped the jurisprudence slate clean -- they
    were starting from scratch.  The legislators had done their
    work; now it was up to the courts.  While he personally had
    objected to the wording of Article 301, the Court of Appeals
    needed to have its say; jurisprudence should resolve the
    issue.

    ¶6. (C) However, Kerincsiz,s propensity for filing suits
    under Article 301 could make this solution untenable.  Human
    Rights Association Director General Yusuf Alatas told us
    government sources indicated to him that they would like to
    address Article 301 in the near-term but wanted to wait for a
    groundswell of popular support from NGOs and intellectuals
    first.  PM Advisor Nabi Avci told us that amending Article
    301 was indeed a possibility, in the context of convening the
    Turkish parliament early for an extraordinary session in
    September to address items from the Ninth Reform Package (Ref
    E).

    -------
    Comment
    -------

    ¶7. (C) The EU has also expressed its displeasure with Article
    301 and its consequences.  With an EU progress report
    expected October 24, the GOT may have to move quickly and
    decisively to amend (more likely) or remove (altogether less
    likely) Article 301.

    Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
    http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

    MCELDOWNEY

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