(ANKARA) - The Turkish parliament Wednesday passed a long-awaited amendment to a law penalising insults to "Turkishness" that has drawn strong EU criticism as a threat to free speech in the country.

The amendment, softening Article 301 of the penal code, was adopted with the support of 250 MPs in the 550-member house at the end of an eight-hour debate that started Tuesday afternoon and continued throughout the night amid fierce opposition from nationalist deputies.

Under the amendment, "Turkishness" -- a term criticised as too broad and vague -- was replaced with the "Turkish nation" and the envisaged jail term decreased from three to two years, allowing the sentence to be suspended or converted to a fine.

In a bid to make trials under the law more difficult, the provision now requires the justice minister's approval before prosecutors can launch cases.

Also, a section that called for increased sanctions for such crimes committed abroad was removed from the law.

Dozens of intellectuals, including 2006 Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been tried under Article 301 and although some have been convicted, -- including slain ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink -- their sentences were suspended and no one has been jailed so far.

The article has mainly targeted people contesting the official line on the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, which, much to Turkey's ire, many countries have recognised as genocide.

The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, has long criticised the law as a threat to freedom of speech.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said during a visit to Ankara earlier this month that the amendment plan was "a step in the right direction."

The many critics of the article argue that the revision is inadequate and the provision should be scrapped altogether from the penal code.

The EU has repeatedly warned Turkey that respect for free speech will be a test of its commitment to align with the bloc's democracy norms.

Turkey has so far opened accession talks in only six of the 35 policy areas that candidates are required to complete amid a row over the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and strong opposition to its membership in some EU countries.

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