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Turkey faces mounting criticism over its decision to
bring criminal charges against its foremost writer
yesterday, as Europe's foreign ministers met in
Wales to discuss the country's prospects for EU
membership.
The Turkish government, already under pressure to
recognise EU member Cyprus, is pushing for a date to
begin full membership talks and can ill afford a new
row over freedom of speech.
Orhan Pamuk, the internationally acclaimed author of
My Name is Red, could face up to three years in
prison for comments made in a Swiss interview when
he condemned the mass killing of Armenians in the
aftermath of the First World War.
Denis MacShane, former Europe minister and Labour MP
for Rotherham, said: "It is a sickening blow to all
pro-Turks in Britain and Europe ... to hear the news
that the Turkish authorities seek to persecute this
great European writer."
Calling on the European Commission to lobby Turkey
to drop the charges, Mr MacShane added: "I will
continue to support and argue for (Turkey's) right
to start EU membership talks. But if the authorities
persist with this attack on a great European writer
then many of us who are strong supporters of Turkey
will be forced to change our minds."
A Turkish public prosecutor said Mr Pamuk's comments
violated Turkey's penal code. The award-winning
writer is charged with "denigrating Turkish
identity". Mr Pamuk is prohibited from commenting on
the charges but his associate and translator Maureen
Freely launched a scathing attack over the charge.
"How can Turkey possibly claim to be a European
country if it has such laws on the books and
prosecutors can bring such cases?" she asked.
The row threatens to overshadow the meeting of EU
foreign ministers intended to assess the country's
compliance with conditions to open membership talks
next month.
In recent years, Turkey has had to enact major
political and economical reforms to overcome its
reputation as a country that violates human rights
and has a weak, uncompetitive economy.
Abdullah Gul, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said
talks should begin on schedule as Turkey had met all
of the objective criteria.
However, preparations for the talks have already hit
a major obstacle over Cyprus. In July, Turkey signed
a deal extending a customs union with the EU to
include Cyprus and nine other countries that joined
the bloc in 2004. Turkey upset many EU governments
by insisting its signature on the customs deal did
not mean Ankara now recognised the Cypriot
government.
Critics have seized on Cyprus to call for a
watered-down associate member status for Turkey.
Mr Pamuk caused a storm last year when he told the
Swiss newspaper Der Tagesanzeiger that "30,000 Kurds
and one million Armenians were killed in these lands
and nobody but me dares to talk about it."
Turkey denies a genocide of Armenians between 1915
and 1923, claiming instead that hundred of thousands
of Armenians died of famine and disease only.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
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