Revisions to article 301 sent to parliament's justice commision

After returning to Ankara after a visit to China, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan yesterday sent to a Parliament commission a government proposal to amend Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), seen as a key obstacle to Turkey's European Union membership talks. Justice Commission members are expected to hold initial hearings on the proposal on Friday amid debate over who should be responsible for starting the legal process to file charges for denigrating Turkish identity or insulting the country's institutions. Although the current proposal would give this responsibility to the president, Toptan told reporters that leaving the decision to the justice minister would be better. In related news, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on a visit to Qatar, said that after much discussion he and his colleagues had decided to give the president the authority, as he is above both politics and political parties. "As the justice minister is involved in politics, a decision from the president would be more trustworthy," said the premier.