Turkish parliamentary commission adopts Article 301

The controversial and long-debated Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code criminalizes insulting "Turkishness."

Under the proposed amendment, denigrating the Turkish identity is replaced with denigrating the "Turkish nation" in an effort to eliminate the elusive definition of Turkish identity. It also replaces the word "Republic," with the "Republic of Turkish State," in a similar context.

The European Union has been calling on Turkey to amend Article 301, which has been the basis for charges against Turkish writers and journalists such as Hrant Dink, Elif Safak, and Orhan Pamuk.

The bill also requires prosecutors to receive the green light from the Turkish president before pressing any charges under the law and lowers the upper limit of a jail sentence from three to two years, opening the way for the suspension of imprisonment rulings of those convicted under this law.

The bill will be debated at Justice Commission on Friday. Â