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Reuters, UK
Oct 9 2005
Turkey's Gul: writer will win genocide claim case
Sun Oct 9, 2005 7:58 PM IST
PARIS (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday he was
confident a court would dismiss charges against a best-selling
Turkish writer who faces prison for his views on the massacres of
Armenians 90 years ago.
Orhan Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkish identity for
supporting Armenian claims they suffered a genocide under Ottoman
Turks in 1915. He faces 3 years in jail if convicted.
Pamuk further upset the establishment and nationalists by saying
Turkish forces shared responsibility for the death of more than
30,000 Kurds in southeast Turkey during separatist fighting there in
the 1980s and 1990s.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sought to play down the controversy,
telling Canal television he expected the case to be dismissed as a
court had already thrown out similar charges against a different
person.
"The same trial has been held before, over the same phrases, the same
words," Gul said through an interpreter.
"The judge ruled that everyone has the right to express their
opinion. The same decision will be handed down (in Pamuk's case), I
have no doubt about this."
Pamuk's prosecution has highlighted concerns over whether Turkey's
human rights record is compatible with EU membership. Some 60 percent
of French voters say they don't want mainly Muslim Turkey joining the
EU.
In a show of support, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn met Pamuk
at the writer's Istanbul home on Saturday and urged Ankara to respect
freedom of expression.
Pamuk, best known for historical novels such as "My Name is Red" and
"The White Castle", goes on trial on Dec. 16.
Gul said that despite the case, human rights had come on in leaps and
bounds in the past three years.
"We have a limited democracy in Turkey ... but thanks to the reforms
of the past few years, its scope has widened enormously."
Turkey had offered to open its archives to international historians
so as to resolve the Armenian massacre issue, which has complicated
Ankara's bid to join the European Union.
The European Parliament last month passed a non-binding resolution
saying Ankara must recognise the Armenian massacres as a genocide
before joining the EU, and gave only grudging support to the start of
entry talks with Turkey on Oct. 3.
Oct 9 2005
Turkey's Gul: writer will win genocide claim case
Sun Oct 9, 2005 7:58 PM IST
PARIS (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday he was
confident a court would dismiss charges against a best-selling
Turkish writer who faces prison for his views on the massacres of
Armenians 90 years ago.
Orhan Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkish identity for
supporting Armenian claims they suffered a genocide under Ottoman
Turks in 1915. He faces 3 years in jail if convicted.
Pamuk further upset the establishment and nationalists by saying
Turkish forces shared responsibility for the death of more than
30,000 Kurds in southeast Turkey during separatist fighting there in
the 1980s and 1990s.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sought to play down the controversy,
telling Canal television he expected the case to be dismissed as a
court had already thrown out similar charges against a different
person.
"The same trial has been held before, over the same phrases, the same
words," Gul said through an interpreter.
"The judge ruled that everyone has the right to express their
opinion. The same decision will be handed down (in Pamuk's case), I
have no doubt about this."
Pamuk's prosecution has highlighted concerns over whether Turkey's
human rights record is compatible with EU membership. Some 60 percent
of French voters say they don't want mainly Muslim Turkey joining the
EU.
In a show of support, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn met Pamuk
at the writer's Istanbul home on Saturday and urged Ankara to respect
freedom of expression.
Pamuk, best known for historical novels such as "My Name is Red" and
"The White Castle", goes on trial on Dec. 16.
Gul said that despite the case, human rights had come on in leaps and
bounds in the past three years.
"We have a limited democracy in Turkey ... but thanks to the reforms
of the past few years, its scope has widened enormously."
Turkey had offered to open its archives to international historians
so as to resolve the Armenian massacre issue, which has complicated
Ankara's bid to join the European Union.
The European Parliament last month passed a non-binding resolution
saying Ankara must recognise the Armenian massacres as a genocide
before joining the EU, and gave only grudging support to the start of
entry talks with Turkey on Oct. 3.