Southeast European Times, MD
Feb 15 2007

Reports say writer Pamuk won’t return to Turkey
15/02/2007

Several press reports suggest Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who last
month expressed his anger and dismay at the murder of journalist
Hrant Dink, has decided to remain in the United States following a
lecture tour there.

Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s most famous living novelists and the
winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for literature, has reportedly left
his country amid fears for his life.

Quoting a prominent Turkish journalist, Britain’s Daily Telegraph
reported on Wednesday (February 14th) that the author of "My Name is
Red", "Snow" and other highly acclaimed literary works was not
planning to return home in the near future.

"What I was told was more than mere rumour," Fatih Altayli, a
columnist at the Turkish daily Sabah told the British paper. "Pamuk
recently withdrew $400,000 from his bank account and said he would
leave Turkey and would not be returning to his country any time
soon."

In an article published earlier this week, Altayli cited "recent
incidents in the country" as the motive behind the writer’s decision.
Last month, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down in
broad daylight outside his office at the Agos newspaper. Soon after,
Ogun Samast, a 17-year-old nationalist, confessed to killing the
journalist because he "insulted Turkish blood".

Dink angered hardliners by challenging the official Turkish position
that the killings of some 1.5 million Armenians in the last years of
the Ottoman Empire did not constitute genocide. Statements to that
effect landed the journalist in court, with prosecutors charging him
with "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal
code.

Pamuk did not attend Dink’s funeral, which drew more than 100,000
people, but criticised the Turkish authorities over the murder. Many
of the mourners blamed the journalist’s death on Article 301.

"The murder of my courageous, golden-hearted friend has soured my
life," the German magazine Der Spiegel quoted Pamuk as saying. "I am
furious at everyone and everything, and I feel boundless shame."

Pamuk was himself charged with "insulting Turkishness" under Article
301 in 2005 for comments he had made on the mass killings of
Armenians in the early 1900s and of Kurds in recent decades. The
charges against him were eventually dropped in January 2006, but
nationalists have remained hostile to him.

Yasin Hayal, the person suspected of inciting Samast to murder Dink,
issued an apparent threat to Pamuk last month. "Orhan Pamuk, be
careful!" reports quoted him as saying.

Pamuk left for New York on February 1st to give a series of talks at
US universities, including Columbia. A day before that he cancelled a
publicity tour of Germany amid fears for his safety.

Besides Dink and Pamuk, scores of other Turkish writers, journalists
and intellectuals have faced prosecution under Article 301, which
stipulates a prison sentence of up to three years. Most have been
acquitted, or have had the charges against them dropped. Nevertheless
the EU, which Turkey is seeking to join, has repeatedly urged Ankara
to amend or abolish the controversial legislation.

On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul voiced support for
an overhaul of the article.

"I want this article amended because it puts a shadow on Turkey’s
reform process," the AP quoted the minister as saying in Ankara at a
joint news conference with his Australian counterpart, Alexander
Downer. "It is damaging Turkey’s image. It is portraying Turkey as a
country where hundreds of journalists and intellectuals are jailed
for their speeches. This is wrong."

B/features/setimes/features/2007/02/15/feature-01

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress