Tweet
TURKEY PLAYS DOWN AUTHOR'S TRIAL
Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Oct 10 2005
Sunday 09 October 2005, 23:13 Makka Time, 20:13 GMT
Abdullah Gul (R) says Turkey's rights record has improved
Turkey's foreign minister says he is confident a court will 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 that they suffered a genocide under Ottoman
Turks in 1915. He faces three years in jail if convicted.
Pamuk further upset the establishment and nationalists by saying
Turkish forces shared responsibility for the deaths of more than
30,000 Kurds in southeast Turkey during separatist fighting there in
the 1980s and 1990s.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Sunday sought to play down the
controversy, telling Canal television that he expected the case to
be dismissed because a court had thrown out similar charges against
a different person.
Rights record
"The same trial has been held before, over the same phrases, the same
words," Gul said.
"The judge ruled that everyone has the right to express their
opinion. The same decision will be handed down, I have no doubt
about this."
Nationalists reject any attempt to reopen the Armenian chapter
Pamuk's prosecution has highlighted concerns over whether Turkey's
human-rights record is compatible with EU membership. About 60% of
French voters say they do not want mainly Muslim Turkey to join 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 16 December.
Archives opened
Gul said that despite the case, human rights had advanced by leaps
and bounds in the past three years.
"The same trial has been held before, over the same phrases, the
same words"
Abdullah Gul, Turkish Foreign Minister
"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
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 3 October.
Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Oct 10 2005
Sunday 09 October 2005, 23:13 Makka Time, 20:13 GMT
Abdullah Gul (R) says Turkey's rights record has improved
Turkey's foreign minister says he is confident a court will 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 that they suffered a genocide under Ottoman
Turks in 1915. He faces three years in jail if convicted.
Pamuk further upset the establishment and nationalists by saying
Turkish forces shared responsibility for the deaths of more than
30,000 Kurds in southeast Turkey during separatist fighting there in
the 1980s and 1990s.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Sunday sought to play down the
controversy, telling Canal television that he expected the case to
be dismissed because a court had thrown out similar charges against
a different person.
Rights record
"The same trial has been held before, over the same phrases, the same
words," Gul said.
"The judge ruled that everyone has the right to express their
opinion. The same decision will be handed down, I have no doubt
about this."
Nationalists reject any attempt to reopen the Armenian chapter
Pamuk's prosecution has highlighted concerns over whether Turkey's
human-rights record is compatible with EU membership. About 60% of
French voters say they do not want mainly Muslim Turkey to join 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 16 December.
Archives opened
Gul said that despite the case, human rights had advanced by leaps
and bounds in the past three years.
"The same trial has been held before, over the same phrases, the
same words"
Abdullah Gul, Turkish Foreign Minister
"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
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 3 October.