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Novelist's case is a trial for Turkey
18.12.2005
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ISTANBUL, Turkey — The trial of a top novelist
has left Turkey's government in a bind, caught
between outraging Europe by prosecuting a renowned
author for his views and angering the
administration's nationalist grass roots by dropping
the case.
The quandary became clear last week when a judge
kicked the case against Orhan Pamuk back to the
country's Justice Ministry, demanding that the
government first approve it.
Outside the courthouse, European Union legislators
criticized the government, questioning its
commitment to freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, nationalists pelted Pamuk's car with
eggs, shouting "Traitor!"
Pamuk, the country's most prominent author, is being
tried for insulting the Turkish Republic after
telling a Swiss newspaper in February that "Thirty
thousand Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed
in these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk
about it."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his Cabinet
will discuss the case Monday — analysts say the
government likely will recommend that the case be
dropped — but it is clearly an issue the government
was trying to avoid. |
Turkeys best-known novelist Orhan Pamuk third from
left, leaves the courthouse in Istanbul Turkey Dec
16 2005
Photo: AP |
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The Istanbul court that was trying Pamuk said it
contacted the Justice Ministry on Dec. 2 but got no
response on whether to prosecute.
Turkish politicians long have blamed overzealous
prosecutors and judges for freedom-of-expression
charges. Now they will have no choice but to weigh
in directly on the highest-profile case in decades.
"I think they are probably doing the worst thing
possible by being undecided," said Ilter Turan, a
political scientist at Istanbul Bilgi University.
"They are losing the hearts of the pro-EU people and
not winning the hearts of the nationalists."
The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive
time in the overwhelmingly Muslim country's push to
join the EU.
Erdogan's government has made EU membership a
cornerstone of its rule and passed sweeping reforms
of Turkey's legal code. On Oct. 3, Turkey realized
one of its dreams when the EU agreed to open talks
about its joining.
Since then, EU officials have accused Turkey of
allowing reforms to slow down.
Erdogan's government appears to be appealing more to
its conservative constituents: Alcohol has been
banned in some municipal areas and officials have
spoken out in favor of relaxing regulations that bar
women's Islamic head scarves at universities.
AP
Related issue:
Armenian Genocide by Turkish Muslims against
Christians
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