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TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER DEFENDS JUDICIAL INTEGRITY
By Vincent Boland in Ankara
The Financial Times
Oct 17 2005
Updated: 2:41 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2005
A charge of treason against Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist, was
almost certain to be dismissed by the courts when his trial begins
in December but was damaging to Turkey's image abroad regardless of
the outcome, the country's foreign minister said.
Abdullah Gul said the publicity given to Mr Pamuk's forthcoming trial
for "public denigration of Turkish identity" had overshadowed what he
insisted were notable efforts to modernise Turkey's judicial system
and to enhance freedom of expression and civil rights.
"I have confidence that the judge will dismiss this case," Mr Gul
said in an interview last week with the Financial Times.
Mr Gul said the government could not intervene because the judiciary
and the criminal justice system in Turkey were independent of
political control.
"I am not a judge, but I don't think he will go to jail," Mr Gul
said. If convicted, Mr Gul said, Mr Pamuk can appeal.
Two recent incidents raise doubts about Mr Gul's optimism, however.
Recent sentencings of a newspaper editor on a similar charge, and of a
Kurdish politician for speaking in Kurdish, have added to discomfort
among Turkish reformers that penal and civil code reforms are being
wilfully ignored by some prosecutors and judges.
Mr Gul said the Turkish judiciary was "conservative" and that
"prosecutors were even more conservative, but there are higher courts
where the correct decisions are made".
He insisted that the cases of Mr Pamuk and the others were "individual
cases" that should not deflect from the reforms the government has
passed to boost civil and human rights protection.
"We believe in freedom of expression and religion, and we are very
proud of the changes this government has introduced," Mr Gul said. "I
know [Mr Pamuk's case] is damaging and does not help us, but there
are many things happening that are more important."
Mr Pamuk, who is better known and more widely read abroad than in
Turkey, has been charged with "public denigration of Turkish identity"
for remarks he made to a magazine about Turkey's stance on the mass
killing of Armenians during the first world war.
Mr Pamuk is due to go on trial on December 16.
Turkey began accession negotiations with the European Union two weeks
ago but already Mr Pamuk's plight is being cited as a reason why it
should not be allowed to join the union.
The man who brought the charges against Mr Pamuk is the prosecutor
for the Istanbul district of Sisli. He also pursued Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister and former mayor of Istanbul,
in the late 1990s.
By Vincent Boland in Ankara
The Financial Times
Oct 17 2005
Updated: 2:41 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2005
A charge of treason against Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist, was
almost certain to be dismissed by the courts when his trial begins
in December but was damaging to Turkey's image abroad regardless of
the outcome, the country's foreign minister said.
Abdullah Gul said the publicity given to Mr Pamuk's forthcoming trial
for "public denigration of Turkish identity" had overshadowed what he
insisted were notable efforts to modernise Turkey's judicial system
and to enhance freedom of expression and civil rights.
"I have confidence that the judge will dismiss this case," Mr Gul
said in an interview last week with the Financial Times.
Mr Gul said the government could not intervene because the judiciary
and the criminal justice system in Turkey were independent of
political control.
"I am not a judge, but I don't think he will go to jail," Mr Gul
said. If convicted, Mr Gul said, Mr Pamuk can appeal.
Two recent incidents raise doubts about Mr Gul's optimism, however.
Recent sentencings of a newspaper editor on a similar charge, and of a
Kurdish politician for speaking in Kurdish, have added to discomfort
among Turkish reformers that penal and civil code reforms are being
wilfully ignored by some prosecutors and judges.
Mr Gul said the Turkish judiciary was "conservative" and that
"prosecutors were even more conservative, but there are higher courts
where the correct decisions are made".
He insisted that the cases of Mr Pamuk and the others were "individual
cases" that should not deflect from the reforms the government has
passed to boost civil and human rights protection.
"We believe in freedom of expression and religion, and we are very
proud of the changes this government has introduced," Mr Gul said. "I
know [Mr Pamuk's case] is damaging and does not help us, but there
are many things happening that are more important."
Mr Pamuk, who is better known and more widely read abroad than in
Turkey, has been charged with "public denigration of Turkish identity"
for remarks he made to a magazine about Turkey's stance on the mass
killing of Armenians during the first world war.
Mr Pamuk is due to go on trial on December 16.
Turkey began accession negotiations with the European Union two weeks
ago but already Mr Pamuk's plight is being cited as a reason why it
should not be allowed to join the union.
The man who brought the charges against Mr Pamuk is the prosecutor
for the Istanbul district of Sisli. He also pursued Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister and former mayor of Istanbul,
in the late 1990s.