Çığ acquitted

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ was acquitted today in a trial that lasted only half an hour. (See here for details on the case.)

Çığ is a devotee of Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic, and his secular principles. After the trial, she said her case was not a blot on Turkey's progress in human rights or freedom of expression. Instead, she said ,"My trial acted as a tool to display the strength of the secular tradition in Turkey against the fundamentalists. This will encourage people like me to think more, act more courageously and voice their opposition more openly."

Turkey's secular tradition may have triumphed, but let no one deny it's getting its chances to battle the fundamentalist quite often this year. Dozens of other writers, journalists and academics who have been prosecuted, including this year's Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and novelist Elif Shafak.