"Turkey: curiouser and curiouser
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn are visiting Ankara this weekend. It may be a surreal trip.
It is probably no coincidence that their Turkish host, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has just introduced into parliament a reform measure long demanded by the EU and held up by secular-nationalist opposition. The reform is to section 301 of the Penal Code which criminalises 'insulting Turkishness' and has been invoked by zealous nationalist prosecutors to pursue a number of prominent authors, including Orhan Pamuk, as well as those seeking to question the official Turkish line on the Armenian genocide question. The change would require approval from President Abdullah Gul for any future prosecutions. It is likely to pass parliament next week."
More:The World Next Week - Turkey: curiouser and curiouser
