One of the many things for which Americans can give thanks this Thanksgiving is freedom of speech ó a concept with which Turkey (the country, not the animal) is grappling.

To that end, a European Union official recently told Turkey that its insult law must go.

In what has been billed as the most explicit statement to date addressing an article in Turkeyís penal code, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the insult law is ìsimply not acceptable in a European democracyî and that it ìmust be repealed or amended without delay,î if Turkey harbors hopes for EU membership.

ìThe ball is in Turkeyís court,î Rehn added.

The issue is a major concern among Western democracies because the law has been used to prosecute anyone for insulting ìTurkishness.î For the EU members, which rightly value their freedoms, Turkeyís insult law is viewed as barbaric.

To its credit, Turkeyís government reportedly responded just hours after Rehnís statement, with Turkish television stations quoting Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin as saying the government would change the controversial law and that a bill would be put before Parliament in the coming days.

However, he gave no details on how the law would be changed, according to The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Abdullah Gul has called for changes to a law that has put writers on trial for insulting Turkish identity. Nobel-laureate writer Orhan Pamuk and slain journalist Hrant Dink are among the many people tried under Article 301, though few have been convicted.

Whether or not Article 301 has contributed to the ìunfair perception,î as Gul contends, that Turkey jails dissidents, the fact remains that it has been used recently to prosecute writers and journalists who argued that Turkey perpetrated a genocide against Armenians in the early 20th century.

Of course, Turkey officially rejects the view that those deaths can be classified as genocide ó a stance that caused friction recently with U.S. officials, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who (like most historians) contended Turkey was responsible.

We thank the EU for prodding Turkey to dump its insult law to allow for much-needed self-criticism.