Freedom of Speech in Turkey

There is an interesting legal case regarding freedom of speech ongoing in Turkey. A famous novelist there, Orhan Pamuk, is on trial because in an interview in a Swiss magazine in February he admitted something well-known about Turkey's past: the genocide of one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds in the early 20th century. Now he is on trial and faces up to three years in prison. The accusation against him: "denigrating Turkishness".

This trial is unacceptable and should not be happening in a country that is supposed to be democratic. Turkey has been slowly transitioning to democracy over the years, under the careful watch of the Turkish military. A moderate Islamic goverment is now in power there, and the country aspires to join the european union. As, Camil Eurlings, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Turkey put it yesterday "Turkey's image has already been damaged by the government's failure to prevent this trial".

If Turkey wants to join Europe and be part of the civilized democratic world, they should stop this trial immediately and allow full freedom of speech. Thats an essential part of being a democratic country.