Edgy Turkish authors under guard after Dink killing
February 1st, 2007 by
Sara Whyatt, a program director at PEN, the global association that fights for writers’ interests, says what makes Turkey particularly unusual is the number of fiction writers who are targeted.
Novelist Elif Shafak faced trial under article 301 for comments on Armenians and Turks made by one of her fictional characters. Both Shafak and Pamuk have bodyguards.
Turkey’s government strongly condemned Dink’s murder and vowed to bring the culprits to justice. But it has resisted calls, including from the EU, to scrap 301 and said insulting national identity is a crime in other European countries too.
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February 2nd, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Free societies are often judged by the people’s ability to dissent from the majority or government opinion. Turkey wonders why their struggle for EU membership has been such an up hill battle. The supressing of historical dialogue on the “Armenian Question” is a testimont to the nation’s true nature. Until Turkey admits its past and allows its citizens to engage in the most basic of human rights the doors to the EU will be locked. That is ofcourse…If Turkey’s true intentions include European membership.