Turkey Drops Charges Against Writer

A Turkish court has dropped charges against a prominent writer for “insulting Turkey” after the government declined to accept the charges. “Brussels had described the case as a litmus test of Turkey’s EU membership credentials. The European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the court’s decision to drop charges was “good news for freedom of expression in Turkey”. But he warned that Ankara must tackle loopholes that restrict freedom of speech in other cases.”