Turkish Daily News
Oct 19 2006
>>From the columns
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Who will forgive whom?:
Bugun, Gulay Gokturk: Orhan Pamuk’s task is really difficult. So
many are dictating what he should say at the Nobel Prize ceremony.
The minute the news of the Nobel came in, many started writing draft
speeches. These mentors said, "Make a statement condemning France’s
genocide denial bill." Some said it would be appropriate for him to
go to France at once and have himself arrested. Following that, a
race to craft the best phrases to say at the ceremony began. If he
said one thing, he would make peace with the people of Turkey, or
perhaps instead he’d better say something else. He was assigned a
wide range of missions, from stating support for Turkey’s European
Union membership bid to proving how wonderful Turkish democracy
actually is. Some said that while the opportunity exists, they
expected him to say that he opposes U.S. policy in Iraq. Those who
demanded he turn down the prize are another story. What is being done
here is, in its simplest form, disrespect. It is disrespectful to
write a sentence for a great writer and try to make him read it. It
is as if we won the prize together. As if it was not given to Orhan
Pamuk. As if he will be representing Turkey on that podium and is
obligated to say what we’d like him to. We have a Nobel-winning
author and we think we can exploit his fame as we wish and make him
send the messages we want. As if the Nobel was won through the joint
efforts of a team. The reality is very different. Turkey was never on
the same team as Pamuk. Not simply without us, he earned this prize
in spite of us. Our state tried him, our intellectuals took every
opportunity to demoralize him, to find fault with and destroy him.
Our people were, in general, indifferent to this lynching attempt.
And now do we have the ability to talk about "forgiving," about
"compensating for a mistake"? Do we have the ability to tell him what
to say at the Nobel ceremony? If this honor is going to be an
instrument for a reconciliation of some sort, it is not us, but Orhan
Pamuk, who should be forgiving.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
