Turks Defer Trial of Novelist Who Cited Armenian Deaths

A Turkish court put off the trial of a prominent novelist on Friday after a brief hearing, giving the government until Feb. 7 to decide whether to go ahead with criminal proceedings against him. The charge involves his mentioning the killing of a million Armenians by the Turks in 1915 when he gave a magazine interview, in which he also said 30,000 Kurds had been killed since the late 1980's.
Angry nationalists booed the bestselling writer, Orhan Pamuk, and jostled the police as they escorted him into the packed courthouse, where the proceedings were monitored by observers from the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join in coming years.
Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, revised last summer as part of Turkey's efforts to meet the legal and economic standards required to join the European Union, still criminalizes public comments that "denigrate Turkishness" or criticize the state, the army or the founder of the republic, Ataturk. Nearly 60 intellectuals have been charged under it.

We, in the U.S., are not so far behind. Traitor or "enemy" sympathizer lately refers to anyone brave enough to talk against the war or to ask for an immediate pullout. Critics of this war and W's regime are not taken to court (except for a few cases). Instead they are taken to task in the public arena by the keepers of the law - Hannity, Coulter, Rush, O'Reilly. We are dragged through the mud - Swiftboat... Criticism or calling for an end to the war "jeopardizes our troops" and "encourages the insurgents."

Are we that much different from the Turks?

The Armenian Genocide was a tragedy and must never occur again. The attacks against Kurds must be brought to light and not happen again. The lies that led us to invade Iraq must be exposed and never happen again. The atrocities in the detention camps in Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and secret prisons in Europe must never happen again.