No charges against Safak

TDN
Saturday, June 17, 2006

ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

The Beyoglu Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul decided to drop charges
against Elif Safak, who was accused of belittling Turkishness in her
new book, "Baba ve Pic," which will be published at the end of the year
in the United States as "The Bastard of Istanbul" by Viking/Penguin.

The prosecutor’s office said they could find no evidence Safak intended
to belittle Turkishness in her book. Beyoglu Prosecutor Mustafa Erol in
his decision said: "In her testimony on June 6, 2006, she in summary
said her purpose in writing this book was not to belittle Turkishness
but just the opposite, to contribute to efforts to create a peaceful
and humane environment between Turks and Armenians. She said her book
was fictional."

The investigation was due to a character in her latest novel that
recognized the death of Armenians during the First World War as
genocide. The character’s utterances were perceived as insulting
to Turkishness.

The trials against novelists and journalists for statements deemed
insulting to Turkishness, Turkey’s founder Ataturk, the military or
the judiciary have increased in frequency as of late due to a campaign
by some groups to file complaints against them.

Most widely reported cases involved novelist Orhan Pamuk and the
editor in chief of Armenian daily Hrant Dink.