KERINCSIZ SET TO SUE SWEDES OVER PAMUK’S NOBEL

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 16 2006

Following the acquittal of novelist Elif Safak and her fictional
characters, Turkish ultranationalists have found a fresh target:
The Swedish Royal Academy, which just awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature to Turkey’s own Orhan Pamuk.

Kemal Kerincsiz, a high-profile ultranationalist figure known for
filing complaints against any who fall short of his strict patriotic
standard, said over the weekend that he will sue the academy.

The academy made it public on Thursday that renowned Turkish writer
Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature, a decision which stirred
feelings of the Turkish people as reflected by the coverage of the
Turkish media.

But Pamuk had angered Kerincsiz’s crowd last year when he told a Swiss
newspaper that "30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in
these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it."

Pamuk was subsequently tried on charges of "public denigration of
Turkish identity" but his case, heard under intense international
scrutiny, was dismissed on a technicality.

Now the academy may face a legal challenge for the first time in its
history for its prize choice.

Kerincsiz said he was issuing the challenge since the academy’s
criteria are political.

Kerincsiz first introduced himself as a guardian of self-declared
"Turkishness" last year when he filed a complaint against an academic
conference on Armenians. His endeavor continued with several lawsuits
against journalists and authors who allegedly insulted Turkishness
either in their writings, be it fiction or non-fiction, or by their
remarks.

"Both Orhan Pamuk and his prize are flawed for us," he told the news
channel NTV on Saturday.

Arabaslik: Legal avenues unclear

However, he said that neither he nor his colleagues have studied the
Swedish legal system but added that they’re determined to sue the
academy. "We will work on the legal system, the regulations of the
academy. I believe the regulations of the academy set criteria for
the determination of winners, which should be focusing on the literary
and linguistic skills of the candidates, not their political profiles."

He claimed that the prize was given for Pamuk’s political personality
and due to efforts of the Armenian diaspora. "It’s proven with the
French Parliament’s decision which came on the very same day," said
Kerincsiz referring to the Parliament decision which would make it
an offense to deny Armenian genocide in France.

Arabaslik: ‘I can’t stand his books’

Kerincsiz also said that Pamuk’s books were worthless works of a
third class author. "As a person, don’t I have the right to express
my individual view on the literary value of his books?" he asked.

He also explained that he could read "Kar," the latest and, as Pamuk
said, his only political novel, to the very end but that was all.

"I started to read a couple of his books, but believe me I couldn’t
continue after 50 pages as I thought I was wasting my time," Kerincsiz
told NTV.

He rejected any suggestion that he had inadvertently helped Pamuk
to win the prize, saying that if he hadn’t denounced Pamuk, he would
have won the prize anyway. "He was also among the strongest candidates
last year," he added.

According to several commentators, the lawsuits against prominent
authors and journalists under the controversial penal code Article
301 drew international attention to them and may have helped writers
to receive support and prizes for their efforts for freedom of thought.

Asked about his personal fight against authors, he said that he was
encouraged by the writers. "I’m not their nightmare. I’ve read several
columns about me and my struggle, and almost all see my efforts an
advertising opportunity," he added.

Arabaslik: ‘Nobel not for Turkey, besides it’s no prize’

Another drubbing of the prize came from the Kemalist Thought Foundation
(ADD), which said in a written statement that Pamuk’s Nobel Prize
isn’t an honor for the Turkish nation.

Foundation head Ali Ercan called both the French Parliament’s
controversial bill and the Royal Academy honoring Pamuk show how
"grave acts of treason" are being faced by the Turkish Republic.

Several other civil groups called on Pamuk to fix his "mistake"
with a new speech to tell the world that the Turks didn’t kill 1
million Armenians. Independent Teachers’ Labor Union said that they
will award him a 2006 honor prize if he does so.

People’s Ascent Party (HYP) leader Yasar Nuri Ozturk, rejecting the
Nobel as a prize, said that the academy rewards those who slander
Turkey.

Democratic Leftist Party leader Zeki Sezer on Saturday also urged
Turkish authors not to resort to speaking against Turkey to win the
Nobel Prize.

Arabaslik: Mocking newspapers

While the reactions of the majority, including the press, could be
summed up as "we’re proud of Pamuk, but…," two Turkish papers,
both ultranationalist, went so far as to unleash words that could be
taken as insults.

Daily Yenicag published a photo of Pamuk laughing on Saturday edition
with text saying: "Orhan Pamuk, who grasped the prize due to his
abject insults to the Turkish nation, became rabid after winning the
prize and frothed at the mouth."

Likewise, daily Tercuman, on its front page on Friday, published the
same photo and called on its readers to convey their ideas about Pamuk:
"Readers, tell us your feelings about this smirking opportunist."

And on Sunday, daily Vatan published an anonymous open letter
calling on Pamuk to refuse the prize and offered him to give him
money in return.

"If you heed my call, you’ll be an author without a prize but an
immortal man in the eyes of the great Turkish nation," said the letter.