Tweet
EU SUPPORT FOR TURKEY 'GENOCIDE' WRITER
By Amberin Zaman in Istanbul
The Daily Telegraph, UK
Oct 10 2005
A senior European Union official has underlined concern for Turkey's
human rights record by joining the acclaimed author, Orhan Pamuk,
for lunch in Istanbul. An Istanbul court provoked outrage last month
when it charged Mr Pamuk with violating laws that forbid description
of the mass killings of Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman
Empire as genocide.
The author, who is due to appear in court on Dec 16, could spend
up to three years in prison if found guilty of "insulting Turkey's
national dignity". The charges were filed after Mr Pamuk told a Swiss
newspaper in February that "a million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were
killed in these lands and nobody but me dares talks about it".
Olli Rehn, the EU's enlargement commissioner who lunched with Mr Pamuk,
hinted that negotiations with Turkey over its entry to the EU might
be interrupted if the author were to be convicted.
From: Baghdasarian
By Amberin Zaman in Istanbul
The Daily Telegraph, UK
Oct 10 2005
A senior European Union official has underlined concern for Turkey's
human rights record by joining the acclaimed author, Orhan Pamuk,
for lunch in Istanbul. An Istanbul court provoked outrage last month
when it charged Mr Pamuk with violating laws that forbid description
of the mass killings of Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman
Empire as genocide.
The author, who is due to appear in court on Dec 16, could spend
up to three years in prison if found guilty of "insulting Turkey's
national dignity". The charges were filed after Mr Pamuk told a Swiss
newspaper in February that "a million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were
killed in these lands and nobody but me dares talks about it".
Olli Rehn, the EU's enlargement commissioner who lunched with Mr Pamuk,
hinted that negotiations with Turkey over its entry to the EU might
be interrupted if the author were to be convicted.
From: Baghdasarian