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ANKARA: Who will forgive whom?

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  • ANKARA: Who will forgive whom?

    Turkish Daily News
    Oct 19 2006

    >>From the columns
    Thursday, October 19, 2006

    Who will forgive whom?:

    Bugun, Gulay Gokturk: Orhan Pamuk's task is really difficult. So
    many are dictating what he should say at the Nobel Prize ceremony.

    The minute the news of the Nobel came in, many started writing draft
    speeches. These mentors said, "Make a statement condemning France's
    genocide denial bill." Some said it would be appropriate for him to
    go to France at once and have himself arrested. Following that, a
    race to craft the best phrases to say at the ceremony began. If he
    said one thing, he would make peace with the people of Turkey, or
    perhaps instead he'd better say something else. He was assigned a
    wide range of missions, from stating support for Turkey's European
    Union membership bid to proving how wonderful Turkish democracy
    actually is. Some said that while the opportunity exists, they
    expected him to say that he opposes U.S. policy in Iraq. Those who
    demanded he turn down the prize are another story. What is being done
    here is, in its simplest form, disrespect. It is disrespectful to
    write a sentence for a great writer and try to make him read it. It
    is as if we won the prize together. As if it was not given to Orhan
    Pamuk. As if he will be representing Turkey on that podium and is
    obligated to say what we'd like him to. We have a Nobel-winning
    author and we think we can exploit his fame as we wish and make him
    send the messages we want. As if the Nobel was won through the joint
    efforts of a team. The reality is very different. Turkey was never on
    the same team as Pamuk. Not simply without us, he earned this prize
    in spite of us. Our state tried him, our intellectuals took every
    opportunity to demoralize him, to find fault with and destroy him.

    Our people were, in general, indifferent to this lynching attempt.

    And now do we have the ability to talk about "forgiving," about
    "compensating for a mistake"? Do we have the ability to tell him what
    to say at the Nobel ceremony? If this honor is going to be an
    instrument for a reconciliation of some sort, it is not us, but Orhan
    Pamuk, who should be forgiving.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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