The Herald (Glasgow)
October 13, 2006
Controversial Turkish writer wins;
Nobel Award’s ‘unfortunate’ timing criticised
by PHIL MILLER
COURTING TROUBLE: Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted for
insulting his country. Picture: Tolga Bozoglu/EPA
ATURKISH novelist, who was once prosecuted for insulting his country,
has won the Nobel prize for literature.
Orhan Pamuk, who had been heavily tipped to win literature’s leading
prize, was honoured by the Swedish Academy. It said that in his
"quest for the melancholic soul of his native city [Istanbul] he has
discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures".
However, the award was criticised for being a "political" rather than
a cultural decision, especially as it came on the day that France’s
parliament approved a Bill making it a crime to deny Armenians
suffered genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
The European Union said the French parliament’s approval of the Bill
could harm efforts to end decades of dispute over the killings.
Ankara said the French lower house vote was a severe blow to
French-Turkish ties and its Economics Minister Ali Babacan, the man
leading EU entry talks with Brussels, said he could not rule out
consequences for French firms.
A European Commission spokeswoman noted the Bill still needed upper
house approval and said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn had
often warned it would damage efforts in Turkey and Armenia to resolve
the dispute.
Pamuk, 54, was prosecuted inIstanbul for "insulting Turkishness"
after he told a Swiss newspaper Turkey was unwilling to deal with two
of the most divisive episodes in its recent history: the massacre of
Armenians during the First World War and guerrilla fighting in
Turkey’s Kurdish south-east.
The charges against the writer were dropped only in January, ending a
trial that outraged some Western observers and cast doubt on Turkey’s
commitment to free speech.
"Thirty-thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these
lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it, " Pamuk said in the
interview.
Horace Engdahl, head of the Swedish Academy, yesterday maintained
that Pamuk’s political position had not affected the Nobel decision.
"It could of course lead to some political turbulence but we are not
interested in that, Mr Engdahl said. "He is a controversial person in
his own country, but on the other hand so are almost all of our prize
winners."
Atilla Koc, culture minister of Turkey, said he was delighted by the
news. However, Pinar Kur, a leading Turkish novelist, said: "It is
known, in Turkey and abroad, that this prize is much more related to
politics than to literature. It is very unfortunate that this prize
announcement was made on the same day as the [Armenian genocide] Bill
in France."
Suat Kiniklioglu, director of the German Marshall Fund’s new office
in Ankara, said of Pamuk: "I believe his comments on the Armenian
genocide have been influential in winning this prize. Many Turks will
see it in this way too and will not be cheering.
"I do not believe he was chosen purely on the basis of his artistic
capacity."
Mr Engdahl said Pamuk was selected because he had "enlarged the roots
of the contemporary novel" through his links to both Western and
Eastern culture.
"This means he has stolen the novel from us Westerners and has
transformed it to something different from what we have ever seen
before."
Pamuk’s prize is the first for a writer from a mainly Muslim country
since 1988 when the Nobel went to Naguib Mahfouz, of Egypt.
In its citation, the academy said Pamuk’s international breakthrough
came with his third novel, The White Castle, a historical novel set
in 17thcentury Istanbul. Mr Engdahl added: "He has a flowing
imagination and impressive ingenuity."
Pamuk will receive a 10m kronor (GBP1.1m) cheque, a gold medal and
diploma.