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rfmcdonaldThe Turkish state has decided to prosecute Orhan Pamuk for saying that a million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman state.
Myself, I'm on the record as believing that the Turkish refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide is rooted in Turkish insecurities dating back to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, when it seemed quite possible that Turks might lose a viable homeland. This is understandable even if it's still repellent; this can be worked around.
The prosecution of Pamuk, however, is, besides being a crime in itself, a spectacular mistake. A country that prosecutes one of its most famous writers because he agreed with the historical consensus that, yes, there was an Armenian genocide really doesn't strike me as the sort of country capable of living up to the requirements of European Union membership. I very much doubt that a European electorate already predisposed to reject the idea of Turkish membership in the EU will be more generous than me. Tell me, please, how exactly "Turkish identity" is compromised by the recognition that a previous Turkish state committed genocide? Denial's one possible explanation, but it's not a sufficient explanation.
For the time being, all I'll say is that Turkey's recognition of the Armenian genocide in some form should be a prerequisite for Turkish membership in the European Union. I wish Pamuk well in his upcoming court case--hopefully that will change something in his homeland.
Best-selling Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk faces up to three years in jail for backing allegations that Armenians suffered genocide at Ottoman Turkish hands 90 years ago, his publisher said on Wednesday.
Turkish prosecutors are also investigating comments by Pamuk that some 30,000 Kurds were killed more recently in Turkey in separatist clashes with security forces.
"A lawsuit has been filed against Orhan Pamuk that could result in a three-year prison sentence," Iletisim Publishing said in a statement faxed to Reuters.
Pamuk made his comments about the Armenians and the Kurds during an interview published on Feb 6, 2005, in Das Magazin, the weekly supplement of Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger.
"Thirty thousand Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it," Pamuk was quoted as saying in the interview.
His remarks drew an angry reaction from Turkish nationalists and politicians at the time and the author even received anonymous death threats.
The public prosecutor in Istanbul's Sisli district found Pamuk's remarks violated Turkey's newly revised penal code, which deems denigration of the "Turkish identity" a crime, the publisher of Iletisim, Tugrul Pasaoglu, told Reuters.
Myself, I'm on the record as believing that the Turkish refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide is rooted in Turkish insecurities dating back to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, when it seemed quite possible that Turks might lose a viable homeland. This is understandable even if it's still repellent; this can be worked around.
The prosecution of Pamuk, however, is, besides being a crime in itself, a spectacular mistake. A country that prosecutes one of its most famous writers because he agreed with the historical consensus that, yes, there was an Armenian genocide really doesn't strike me as the sort of country capable of living up to the requirements of European Union membership. I very much doubt that a European electorate already predisposed to reject the idea of Turkish membership in the EU will be more generous than me. Tell me, please, how exactly "Turkish identity" is compromised by the recognition that a previous Turkish state committed genocide? Denial's one possible explanation, but it's not a sufficient explanation.
For the time being, all I'll say is that Turkey's recognition of the Armenian genocide in some form should be a prerequisite for Turkish membership in the European Union. I wish Pamuk well in his upcoming court case--hopefully that will change something in his homeland.
