16 Arrested in Plot to Kill Turkish Laureate

Accused of 'insulting Turkishness' with book urging reconciliation

(NEWSER) - A Turkish publisher goes on trial today in Istanbul for violating that country's controversial law against "insulting Turkishness." Ragip Zarakolu is accused of contravening the notorious Article 301 by publishing a book by a London-based author promoting reconciliation between Turks and Armenians. The trial of a relatively moderate publisher is further damaging Turkey's hopes of being invited to join the EU. More»

Amendment to law is part of bid for EU membership

(NEWSER) - Readying itself for possible EU membership, Turkey's government will soften a law that curbs free speech, the AP reports. An amendment expected to pass parliament will limit penalties for Article 301, which punishes "insulting Turkey or Turkish identity" with up to three years in prison. The announcement came hours after the EU annual report again criticized the law. More»

(NEWSER) - Tehran resident and frequent commentator on Iran, Christopher de Bellaigue, travels west to Turkey to examine the status of Kurds in Turkey. He describes how some have become the fully assimilated Turks that the government so much wanted them to become; but that many have maintained a separate ethnic and cultural identity in their southeastern Turkey homeland and within neighborhoods of the large cities in Western Turkey. More»

Police probe possible suicide bombing

(NEWSER) - A woman in Istanbul was killed yesterday when the bomb she was carrying exploded, Turkish state news reports. Police investigating reports of a blast discovered her body; now, they're trying to figure out if she was a suicide bomber or meant to plant the bomb somewhere, only to have it explode prematurely. Istanbul has seen suicide attacks by Kurdish rebels in the past, as part of a continuing conflict over autonomy that has left thousands dead since 1984, AP notes. More»

Turkey expected to withdraw ambassador

(NEWSER) - If you are in France and deny that Turkey committed "genocide" against 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-1916, be prepared to be fined $57,000 and spend a year in jail. Actually, the new legislation applies to genocide denial in general, but it is the law's application to the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey nearly 100 years ago that has Turkey furious—and Armenia elated, of course—reports the BBC . More»