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05/09/2005
Pamuk faces jail in Turkey after genocide allegations
Acclaimed Turkish author Orhan Pamuk has been charged with the "public denigrating of Turkish identity" after making comments on his county's killing of Armenians and Kurds.
Parmuk now faces three years in jail after he gave an interview to a Swiss newspaper.
"Thirty-thousand Kurds were killed here, one million Armenians as well. And almost no one talks about it," Pamuk told Tages-Anzeiger. "Therefore, I do."
Turkey accepts thousands of Armenians were killed by Ottoman Empire forces in 1915-17, but considers these deaths a consequence of war.
The "thirty-thousand Kurds" that Pamuk mentions are victims of the conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatist guerrillas which started in 1984.
Pamuk, 53, is the best known Turkish novelist of his generation. His novels, which include My Name is Red and Snow, have been translated into more than 20 languages.
He will stand trial on 16 December, according to his publisher Tugrul Pasaoglu.
"We have to wait for the court. Then he will make his speech in the court," Pasaoglu said.
Bibliofemme reviews: Snow by Orhan Pamuk
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