[JURIST] Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul [official profile, English version] said Monday that he favors amending the controversial Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder; JURIST news archive] of Turkey's penal code [text, in Turkish] without eliminating the provision altogether. The article makes "insulting the Turkish identity" a crime. Gul expanded on his previous call to change [JURIST report] the Article, offering his support to a proposal by a group of trade unions and non-governmental organizations [JURIST report]. Gul also reiterated Monday that Article 301 can be changed if necessary [JURIST report] to protect the reputation of Turkey [JURIST news archive] in the international community. AP has more.Turkish Daily News has local coverage.

Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union (EU), faces pressure from the EU to abolish Article 301 [JURIST report] because it is frequently used to silence government critics.