TURKISH NOVELIST UNDERGOES CIVIL SUIT
By Culture & Art News

Zaman, Turkey
Sept 1 2005
zaman.com

Public prosecution has filed a civil suit against the famous Turkish
novelist, Orhan Pamuk, for the “public denigration of Turkish
identity”.

The Sisli Office of Public Prosecution demanded a prison term of six
months to three years for the novelist who said in a Swiss newspaper
last March that, ” One million Armenians were killed in these lands
and nobody but me dares to talk about it.”

Pamuk will be judged with the 301/1 article of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK).

Pamuk’s publisher, Iletisim Publishing, considering the novelist’s
deposition due to the inspection, announced there was no crime that
constituted the denigration of the Turkish society.

Since the claims did not constitute a crime according to article
301/final, the court already decided that there was no need for
prosecution on 1 July 2005, the publisher said.