Commissioner Olli Rehn met PEN representatives

The chairman of the Finnish PEN Jukka Mallinen and I met last Friday EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn. Here is the press release the Finnish PEN gave about the meeting:

OLLI REHN MET PEN REPRESENTATIVES IN HELSINKI

EU Commissioner Olli Rehn met on Friday the second February in Helsinki PEN representatives Jukka Mallinen and Kristiina Koivunen. Mallinen is the chairman of the Finnish PEN and Koivunen is Turkey coordinator.

PEN is writers’ association which promotes literature and defends freedom of expression. In the meeting Rehn, Mallinen and Koivunen discussed the situation in Turkey which has became more difficult. For example the murder of Hrant Dink and the dead threats targeted to Nobel writer Orhan Pamuk show this. Both Dink and Pamuk have been accused in criminal trials due to Article 301. And the trials of many other writers still continue in Turkey due to the same reason. International PEN demands the abolition of Article 301.

Kristiina Koivunen told Olli Rehn about her arrest in Turkey 15th December 2006 and her ban to enter Turkey. The Finnish Embassy in Ankara gave a note to Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs the 12th January 2007 demanding literary argumentation for the ban. Turkey has not yet given its reply to the note.