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Turkey’s parliament has passed an amendment to the notorious Article 301, which makes “insulting Turkishness” a criminal offence.  Under Article 301, Christians have been prosecuted for sharing their faith and academics and journalists threatened for discussing the Armenian Genocide.

Whether the amendment qualifies as an improvement, however, is doubtful.

Under the changes, which must still be approved by the country’s president, insulting Turkishness would no longer be a crime, but insulting the Turkish nation could still land you in prison.

According to Amberin Zaman, the Turkey correspondent for "The Economist" magazine, the distinction between insulting Turkishness and insulting the Turkish nation isn’t any clearer in Turkish than it is in translation. That leaves many people wondering how to interpret the revision to Article 301.

"A lot of people are asking the same question, and the change seems to be more cosmetic than anything else," Zaman says. "Indeed, what is the difference? And equally, what do they mean by the 'Turkish nation'? Does it mean ethnic Turks? Does it encompass Kurds, as well? Nobody really understands what this means."

In recent years, thousands of people have been prosecuted in Turkey for “insulting Turkishness,” as set out in Article 301. They include academics, historians, journalists, and writers — including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk.

If the amendment becomes law, insulting “Turkishness” will be legal but insulting the Turkish nation will not.  Somehow I doubt that will afford any additional protection for freedoms of thought and expression.

Previous related posts:

• Trial for “insulting Turkishness” drags on
• Accused Christians should be acquitted, says prosecutor