EUobserver reports that Turkey is to ease curbs on free speech.

The Turkish parliament is likely to pass a bill next week softening a law which sets limits on freedom of speech by criminalising “insults to Turkishness.” One article in the country's penal code - article 301 - currently imposes up to three years in prison for such an insult. The EU has repeatedly called on Turkey to “repeal or amend without delay” the controversial article as a prerequisite to join the bloc.

Imagine the European Parliament passing a bill softening laws which set limits on freedom of speech by criminalising “insults to Islam.” Some European penal laws currently impose up to two years in prison for such an “insult.”…