On Sunday, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said that changes to article 301 of the penal code would be tabled before the parliament in the coming week.

As it presently stands, article 301 defines the crime of insulting “Turkishness” or Turkish identity. The article has been used to charge a number of Turkey’s leading authors and intellectuals and has been criticized by the European Union and other international groups as being contrary to the principles of free speech.

Under the amendments proposed by the government, the term “Turkishness” will be changed to the Turkish nation.

However, Sahin flagged the possibility that the government may back down on another of the planned changes to article 301, that of having the president rather than prosecutors authorised to lay charges under the law.

“There are allegations suggesting that the President is not authorised for such a task in the constitution,” said Sahin.