EU blasts Turkish author’s trial
By Jonny Dymond

Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 18:12 GMT 19:12 UK
BBC News, Brussels

Orhan Pamuk is accused of publicly denigrating Turkish identity

The EU’s enlargement commissioner and several MEPs have strongly
criticised Turkey for bringing renowned author Orhan Pamuk to court.

Mr Pamuk has been charged under Turkey’s criminal code with insulting
the country’s national character.

The court case followed comments by Mr Pamuk about the deaths of one
million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds in Turkey.

The trial of Turkey’s most internationally-acclaimed author is not
due to start until mid-December.

But his case has caught the eye of European politicians weighing up
Turkey’s bid for membership of the European Union.

‘Regrettable’

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, the official responsible for
shepherding Turkey through the membership process, did not mention
Mr Pamuk’s case when he made his opening statement.

Turkish journalists protested over freedom of speech earlier this
year But he was pressed on the issue over and over again by members
of the European Parliament.

They were clearly upset that the court had been brought under a new,
supposedly more liberal penal code that the European Commission had
pushed Turkey to introduce.

One MEP described the court case as “most unfortunate”. Another stated
that it was “unacceptable” that Turkey should join the EU while it
still practised such restrictions on free speech.

Mr Rehn agreed that the court case was regrettable, while stressing
that Turkey had made clear positive progress on human rights.

He said he had serious concerns over the interpretation of the penal
code, and that the case was in contravention of the European convention
on human rights.