Babacan: "Article 301 won't be abolished"

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday met with his Maldivian counterpart Abdallah Shaheed and signed a cooperative pact between the two countries. Asked later by reporters how Turkey's domestic woes are affecting its foreign policy, Babacan said, "Lately Turkey has gotten a lot of international attention due to its domestic problems." Babacan also touched upon proposed changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), saying the government doesn't intend to do away with the controversial law, and that Parliament will decide how to change it. For his part, Shaheed said the people of the Maldives remain grateful for the support Turkey extended after the disastrous 2004 South Asian tsunami. Stressing that Turkey is a very important model for the Maldives, Shaheed said, "Certain international developments have caused prejudices against Islam to rise, and it is seen as a source of violence." He added that to eliminate those prejudices, all Islamic countries must show the true face of Islam as a religion of peace and understanding. In related news, Babacan told Britain's Daily Telegraph that NATO shouldn't rely on military power alone to defeat Taliban militants in Afghanistan, warning that doing so will worsen the situation. Stressing the importance of winning the Afghan people's hearts and minds, Babacan said, "If the people of that country start to perceive the security forces as occupiers, it's going to be a very complicated situation."