^{Photo: REUTERS}

Turkey plans to amend Article 339 of the Criminal Code. If the Mejlis votes in favor of this decision, the country will start imprisoning “agents of influence.” The legislative novelties almost unchanged repeat the norms that were first introduced by Putin's Russia and then repeated by Ivanishvili's Georgia. In peacetime, “agents of influence” can be imprisoned for 3 to 7 years. It is enough to disseminate information that contradicts the “internal and external interests of Turkey.” The opposition and journalists' associations have expressed their disagreement with the proposals, which have already been supported by the parliamentary committee, but they have no means to stop this. Everything is in the hands of Erdogan, who has a stable majority for any legislative changes. The only obstacle is the Constitutional Court, which has ruled against the current government several times, but the ruling regime does not comply with any of them, and on the contrary, threatens to abolish the Constitutional Court altogether through its junior partner, Bahceli.

23 years ago, when Erdogan created the Justice and Development Party, he charmed a part of liberal Turkey with promises to get rid of the restrictions of the military junta. Freedom of speech was on the list of Erdogan's main promises. He is still being reminded of the slogan of the “three Ys”: Yolsuzluk, Yoksulluk, Yasaklar - Corruption, Poverty, Prohibition. These are the three phenomena that Erdogan promised to destroy in 21st-century Turkey.

Most of the media bans were based on the repressive Article 301 of the Criminal Code. It prosecutes for “insulting the Turkish people.” Judges could interpret this article so freely that convictions under it depended not on the evidence base, but on the will of the authorities. Since 2002, when Erdogan's party won, discussions have begun about the abolition of Article 301 of the Criminal Code. Several times, journalists and writers were exonerated through media publicity and reminders to the authorities to stop the unrestricted use of this provision. Back in the 1990s, Erdogan himself was also tried for publicly reciting a poem that “provoked hostility due to religious differences in Turkish society” - an analog of “insulting the feelings of believers.” This is Article 312 of the Turkish Criminal Code. After coming to power, Erdogan did not get rid of either Article 312 or 301. In the 90s, they were used to try the religious opposition, and now they are used to try too secular opponents. Now these articles will be supplemented by another provision that has not been present under any military junta in the previous century.

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