BBC News, UK
Jan 7 2007

Turkish writer attacks oppression

Mr Pamuk spoke out for writers and intellectuals in Turkey

Writer and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk used a day as guest editor of a
newspaper to highlight oppression of intellectuals in his native Turkey.
Mr Pamuk, who has a degree in journalism, was asked to edit the Radikal
daily as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations.

His cover story accused the Turkish state of suppressing free expression and
oppressing dissident thinkers.

Mr Pamuk, an acclaimed novelist, is a controversial figure in Turkey.

He is the author of works such as Snow and My Name Is Red, and in 2006 won
the Nobel Prize for literature.

A year earlier, he had faced charges of "insulting Turkishness" over
comments on the mass killing of Kurds and Ottoman Armenians, charges which
were later dropped.

His cover article quoted a 1951 story about Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet,
declared a traitor and imprisoned for his left-wing views, in which the
public were urged "to spit in his face".

"This expression… summarises the unchanging place of writers and artists
in the eyes of the state and the press," the cover story said.

Other articles on his front page included a piece on the low percentage of
women in politics and reactions to video footage of former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein’s execution.

ORHAN PAMUK
Born in Istanbul in 1952
Initially trained as an architect
Books translated into more than 40 languages
Novels My Name is Red, Snow and The White Castle hailed as dealing with
East/West culture clashes
Prosecuted for "insulting Turkishness" in 2005