Ankara has been concerned that the draft introducing punishment for denial of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity could be used to silence debate about Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire and these concerns have already been conveyed to the German government both during last month's talks in Berlin between Çiçek and his German counterpart, Brigitte Zypries, as well as during talks between Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, which also took place in Berlin earlier this month.

The draft would bring up to three years of imprisonment for those who deny "genocides and war crimes committed against humanity." According to the draft, punishment of crimes of racism, xenophobia and denial of genocide will not be immediately binding for the member EU countries, but they will eventually have to transpose their national legislation accordingly. Ankara argues that if the draft is adopted, any decision by a national court or a national parliament of an EU member country that would make it a crime to deny that Armenians were victims of "genocide" at the hands of the Ottoman Empire would open the way for imprisonment for dismissing the genocide charges in other EU member countries. Late on Monday, following a Cabinet meeting, Çiçek for the first time publicly complained of the draft, mentioning the draft would be brought on agenda of the EU later this month.

"This is an extremely inappropriate draft," Çiçek said, criticizing those who say there is no freedom of expression in Turkey or freedom of expression has been limited in Turkey for not showing the appropriate reaction to the draft, which he described as "devastating for the freedom of expression."

Certain circles in Ankara and ?stanbul are saying that the EU forms the basis of freedom of expression, Çiçek said, suggesting that this draft would block conducting research on historical facts. He added that PM Recep Tayyip Erdo?an would bring up the issue during his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as he travels to Germany over the weekend to jointly open with her Hanover Messe 2007, the world's largest industry and technology fair.

As for the Germany's position, when approached by Today's Zaman following Çiçek's statement, Klemens Semtner, counselor for political and press affairs at the German Embassy in Ankara, said the primary motive of the draft -- which was originally drawn up in 2001 after a decade of escalation in racist crimes and xenophobia in all Europe, which also targeted people of Turkish descent -- was not made with the Armenian allegations in mind.

"In the context of freedom of speech, we're talking about statements that incite hatred and violence, and I believe that no country would regard these kinds of statements within the framework of freedom of expression," Semtner said. "The draft text doesn't cover governmental statements and scientific research," he added, referring to Çiçek's argument suggesting that if adopted, the draft would also block scientific studies.

"There is a broad consensus among EU member countries that such statements aimed at inciting hatred are not covered by freedom of expression," he emphasized.

Meanwhile, an EU diplomat, speaking with Today's Zaman separately under condition of anonymity, warned that the Turkish government should not evaluate the draft decision and the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) -- which makes it a criminal offense to denigrate "Turkishness" and is widely considered as a barrier in front of freedom of expression in Turkey -- within the same context.

"I don't remember that there was a call for inciting hatred in any of cases opened under Article 301," the same diplomat said, referring to the fact that under the Article 301 many intellectuals, including slain journalist Hrant Dink and Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, were also charged. "These are not comparable," he concluded.