Tweet
The Australian, Australia
Sept 2 2005
Turkey's EU bid hurt by charge
Emma-Kate Symons, Paris
September 03, 2005
TURKEY faces a new stumbling block in its bid for EU membership after
it sparked a free-speech row by charging its most celebrated
contemporary writer with "denigrating national identity".
Best-selling author Orhan Pamuk, whose novel Snow told of a Turkish
poet's struggles against Islamist radicals forcing girls to wear
Muslim garb in a remote town, could be jailed for three years for
attacking the Ottoman massacre of Armenians after World War I.
Turkey has consistently denied murdering Armenians between 1915 and
1923. Pamuk has been condemned in the Turkish press and received
death threats since he told a Swiss newspaper last year that "30,000
Kurds and 1million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody
but me dares to talk about it".
At a meeting of Europe's foreign ministers in Wales yesterday, former
Europe minister Denis MacShane, a British Labour MP, said: "It is a
sickening blow to all pro-Turks in Britain and Europe ... that the
Turkish authorities seek to persecute this great European writer.
"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."
Turkey is pressing for full EU membership but is confronted by
mounting anger over its treatment of Pamuk, who has gone into hiding,
and continuing questions over its refusal to recognise Cyprus, an EU
member.
Turkey invaded the island state in 1974 and Cyprus is now divided
into Turkish and Cypriot zones.
Pamuk's English translator, Maureen Freely, said Ankara had "shot
itself in the foot" with the move.
"This is a man who loves his country deeply, defends it fiercely,
especially when abroad, and who cannot imagine living anywhere else,"
Ms Freely said. "There is no doubt that it (Pamuk's trial) will raise
questions about the wisdom of Turkey's EU membership bid."
Sept 2 2005
Turkey's EU bid hurt by charge
Emma-Kate Symons, Paris
September 03, 2005
TURKEY faces a new stumbling block in its bid for EU membership after
it sparked a free-speech row by charging its most celebrated
contemporary writer with "denigrating national identity".
Best-selling author Orhan Pamuk, whose novel Snow told of a Turkish
poet's struggles against Islamist radicals forcing girls to wear
Muslim garb in a remote town, could be jailed for three years for
attacking the Ottoman massacre of Armenians after World War I.
Turkey has consistently denied murdering Armenians between 1915 and
1923. Pamuk has been condemned in the Turkish press and received
death threats since he told a Swiss newspaper last year that "30,000
Kurds and 1million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody
but me dares to talk about it".
At a meeting of Europe's foreign ministers in Wales yesterday, former
Europe minister Denis MacShane, a British Labour MP, said: "It is a
sickening blow to all pro-Turks in Britain and Europe ... that the
Turkish authorities seek to persecute this great European writer.
"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."
Turkey is pressing for full EU membership but is confronted by
mounting anger over its treatment of Pamuk, who has gone into hiding,
and continuing questions over its refusal to recognise Cyprus, an EU
member.
Turkey invaded the island state in 1974 and Cyprus is now divided
into Turkish and Cypriot zones.
Pamuk's English translator, Maureen Freely, said Ankara had "shot
itself in the foot" with the move.
"This is a man who loves his country deeply, defends it fiercely,
especially when abroad, and who cannot imagine living anywhere else,"
Ms Freely said. "There is no doubt that it (Pamuk's trial) will raise
questions about the wisdom of Turkey's EU membership bid."