Kathimerini, Greece
July 29 2006

Turkish court rejects demand for damages against writer

ISTANBUL (AP) – A Turkish court yesterday dropped a lawsuit against
novelist Orhan Pamuk, rejecting a compensation demand by nationalists
from the author for claiming that Turkey had killed more than 1
million Armenians and more than 30,000 Kurds. Nationalist lawyer
Kemal Kerincsiz and five other nationalists were seeking 6,000
Turkish lira ($4,500 or 3,700 euros) each from Pamuk accusing him of
`insulting, humiliating and making false accusations.’ Kerincsiz had
instigated an earlier high-profile court case against Pamuk for the
same comments, but those charges were dropped earlier this year,
under harsh criticism from the EU, which Turkey hopes to join.