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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 14 2015
Pamuk: 'Authoritarian and Islamist government' replaced soldiers in Turkey
ISTANBUL ` AFP
Submerged in his new novel, Turkey's Nobel prize laureate Orhan Pamuk
gazes out over the city of Istanbul, the main protagonist of his
books, keeping a troubled eye over the development of his country.
Pamuk, author of best-selling modern classics including the "My Name
is Red" and "The Museum of Innocence," has for some three decades been
the face of modern Turkish literature at home and abroad.
His novels, translated into dozens of languages, won him the 2006
Nobel Prize in Literature -- but also the sometimes unwelcome status
as the moral voice of a fast changing nation.
Receiving Agence France-Presse for an interview at his Istanbul
apartment overlooking the Bosphorus,
Pamuk made clear he wanted to be seen as a novelist and not reduced to
a secular opponent of President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an.
"Not only (do) I have to maneuver myself to fight with the government
but I also have to hear people's demands," he told AFP.
"In a way, anyone who is in trouble or feels that the government is
not doing well for them wants me to rightfully represent their
problems.
"My (Nobel) prize didn't make my life easy but of course I'm happy to
deal with all these problems."
Compared to "generations of writers" in Turkey who were jailed, exiled
or even killed, "I feel myself very lucky," he said.
He expressed discomfort with media interviews, saying that after
discussing literature for half an hour and politics for 20 minutes
what is ultimately broadcast is one minute of literature and 20
minutes of politics.
Sitting behind a desk piled high with books, Pamuk's view takes in
almost two millennia of Byzantine and Ottoman history in Istanbul --
the Golden Horn, the Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque.
Taking pains to speak in precise and accurate English, Pamuk said his
last published novel, "A Strangeness in My Mind," was an attempt to
show a changing Istanbul through the eyes of one character.
The story is about a street vendor who sells items including boza, a
traditional drink made from fermented wheat "that people enjoy at
night and associated with Ottomanness, Turkishness and romantic dreams
of Ottoman life.
"On the other hand, my character... shows the reader how this city --
street by street, shop by shop, window by window -- changes."
When the book begins in the 1970s, Istanbul's population was just two
million, but now it is up to 16 million, he noted.
Whether Pamuk is writing about 20th century Turkey (as in "The Museum
of Innocence") or mediaeval times (as in "My Name is Red"), the city
of Istanbul has almost been the main character in his works.
"For me, the sense of Istanbul is Bosphorus, history, a palimpsest of
civilization, with monumental buildings and a continuous construction
where people built and complain, complain and complain but enjoy
their... modern life.
"Which is all the contradictions that define Istanbul."
Pamuk may be reluctant to be seen as a political figure, but he
remains unequivocally critical of ErdoÄ?an who has boasted of
transforming the country into a "new Turkey" with ambitious building
projects.
He said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was
"destroying the balance of powers, which is in fact the key to any
democracy."
"In that sense, Turkey is only an electoral democracy, but a democracy
where the respect of human rights, free speech are violated every
day.'
Pamuk leaves Turkey every year to teach for a semester at New York at
Columbia University and said he could sense the change when he
returned last.
"When I came back, I felt a climate of fear, people whispering."
Commenting on Turkey's recent history, from coup-happy generals to
ErdoÄ?an, he said: "Authoritarian soldiers were (pushed) out, (an)
authoritarian and Islamist government took their place."
ErdoÄ?an and the AKP have dominated Turkey's highly diverse society for
over a decade but have been facing unprecedented challenges after 2013
mass protests followed by stunning corruption allegations against the
elite.
"In a sense, the mystery of political Islam vanished because of the
convincing power of corruption allegations," said Pamuk.
He is far more reticent when asked to comment on the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I, a tragedy which Pamuk
had in 2005 labelled a "genocide."
Those comments brought him death threats as well as legal proceedings
that were eventually abandoned.
"I had a lot of trouble eight to 10 years ago because I talked freely
about this subject."
For now, Pamuk is focusing on putting the finishing touches to a new
novel which he says will be a surprise for some readers.
In typical Pamuk style, it tells the story of a well digger in
Istanbul and his apprentice and is "allegorical."
But this time there is a difference.
"The whole problem here is that this time I want to write a short
novel, and break the heart of my traditional readers who always tell
me to write a long one," he said.
February/14/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pamuk-authoritarian-and-islamist-government-replaced-soldiers-in-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=78356&NewsCatID=338
Feb 14 2015
Pamuk: 'Authoritarian and Islamist government' replaced soldiers in Turkey
ISTANBUL ` AFP
Submerged in his new novel, Turkey's Nobel prize laureate Orhan Pamuk
gazes out over the city of Istanbul, the main protagonist of his
books, keeping a troubled eye over the development of his country.
Pamuk, author of best-selling modern classics including the "My Name
is Red" and "The Museum of Innocence," has for some three decades been
the face of modern Turkish literature at home and abroad.
His novels, translated into dozens of languages, won him the 2006
Nobel Prize in Literature -- but also the sometimes unwelcome status
as the moral voice of a fast changing nation.
Receiving Agence France-Presse for an interview at his Istanbul
apartment overlooking the Bosphorus,
Pamuk made clear he wanted to be seen as a novelist and not reduced to
a secular opponent of President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an.
"Not only (do) I have to maneuver myself to fight with the government
but I also have to hear people's demands," he told AFP.
"In a way, anyone who is in trouble or feels that the government is
not doing well for them wants me to rightfully represent their
problems.
"My (Nobel) prize didn't make my life easy but of course I'm happy to
deal with all these problems."
Compared to "generations of writers" in Turkey who were jailed, exiled
or even killed, "I feel myself very lucky," he said.
He expressed discomfort with media interviews, saying that after
discussing literature for half an hour and politics for 20 minutes
what is ultimately broadcast is one minute of literature and 20
minutes of politics.
Sitting behind a desk piled high with books, Pamuk's view takes in
almost two millennia of Byzantine and Ottoman history in Istanbul --
the Golden Horn, the Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque.
Taking pains to speak in precise and accurate English, Pamuk said his
last published novel, "A Strangeness in My Mind," was an attempt to
show a changing Istanbul through the eyes of one character.
The story is about a street vendor who sells items including boza, a
traditional drink made from fermented wheat "that people enjoy at
night and associated with Ottomanness, Turkishness and romantic dreams
of Ottoman life.
"On the other hand, my character... shows the reader how this city --
street by street, shop by shop, window by window -- changes."
When the book begins in the 1970s, Istanbul's population was just two
million, but now it is up to 16 million, he noted.
Whether Pamuk is writing about 20th century Turkey (as in "The Museum
of Innocence") or mediaeval times (as in "My Name is Red"), the city
of Istanbul has almost been the main character in his works.
"For me, the sense of Istanbul is Bosphorus, history, a palimpsest of
civilization, with monumental buildings and a continuous construction
where people built and complain, complain and complain but enjoy
their... modern life.
"Which is all the contradictions that define Istanbul."
Pamuk may be reluctant to be seen as a political figure, but he
remains unequivocally critical of ErdoÄ?an who has boasted of
transforming the country into a "new Turkey" with ambitious building
projects.
He said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was
"destroying the balance of powers, which is in fact the key to any
democracy."
"In that sense, Turkey is only an electoral democracy, but a democracy
where the respect of human rights, free speech are violated every
day.'
Pamuk leaves Turkey every year to teach for a semester at New York at
Columbia University and said he could sense the change when he
returned last.
"When I came back, I felt a climate of fear, people whispering."
Commenting on Turkey's recent history, from coup-happy generals to
ErdoÄ?an, he said: "Authoritarian soldiers were (pushed) out, (an)
authoritarian and Islamist government took their place."
ErdoÄ?an and the AKP have dominated Turkey's highly diverse society for
over a decade but have been facing unprecedented challenges after 2013
mass protests followed by stunning corruption allegations against the
elite.
"In a sense, the mystery of political Islam vanished because of the
convincing power of corruption allegations," said Pamuk.
He is far more reticent when asked to comment on the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I, a tragedy which Pamuk
had in 2005 labelled a "genocide."
Those comments brought him death threats as well as legal proceedings
that were eventually abandoned.
"I had a lot of trouble eight to 10 years ago because I talked freely
about this subject."
For now, Pamuk is focusing on putting the finishing touches to a new
novel which he says will be a surprise for some readers.
In typical Pamuk style, it tells the story of a well digger in
Istanbul and his apprentice and is "allegorical."
But this time there is a difference.
"The whole problem here is that this time I want to write a short
novel, and break the heart of my traditional readers who always tell
me to write a long one," he said.
February/14/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pamuk-authoritarian-and-islamist-government-replaced-soldiers-in-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=78356&NewsCatID=338