patrolling turkish history, part 1: the prosecution of orhan pamuk
Turkey's problematic relationship with its history has been in the news again recently, most notably with the prosecution of novelist Orhan Pamuk for "denigrating national identity" in an interview with a Swiss journalist in which he discussed the Armenian genocide. (Follow these links for coverage and editorials from the NYT, the WaPo, the BBC, the Seattle P-I, the Turkish progressive news network Bianet, and a statement from PEN International).
Most of the Turks I've spoken to about this are horrified at the prosecution, both because they see it as unjust and stupid, and because they're deeply worried anti-Turkish forces in Europe will seize upon this as another reason to deny Turkey EU membership. Of course, most of my friends here are leftists, academics, or both, and are therefore not exactly warmly disposed towards nationalist chauvinism and state censorship. So I can't vouch for the representativeness of their views.
That said, the coverage of the prosecution in the international press has made it sound as if the Turkish government itself is going after Pamuk, which as far as I can tell isn't quite the case. Turgay Evsen, a single state prosecutor in İstanbul's posh Şişli district filed the charges in what seems to be an attempt to make a name for himself through nationalist grandstanding--he's previously made similar charges against a Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrank Dink. Turkey's new penal code, which was the subject of much protest by Turkish journalists when it was introduced last spring, includes some worthwhile human rights reforms but also contains a deeply stupid and repressive provision allowing such prosecutions. In the case of Pamuk, I would guess it's quite unlikely that the current Turkish leadership (i.e., Prime Minister Erdoğan and the AK Party) instigated or really support the prosecution--it's embarrassing to them and very damaging to EU-Turkish relations at a crucial time. But they're in something of a political bind, given that the prosector's actions are no doubt wildly popular in nationalist circles. You might consider writing them (list of addresses via Moorishgirl and Bookslut) and encouraging them to dissuade Mr. Evren from this pernicious campaign.
Pamuk's own position is a bit odd: he's massively famous both in Turkey and abroad, but a number of the Turks I know are ambivalent about his literary works (they consider his books creative, but say his Turkish prose is terrible--I haven't yet tried to read him in the original, so I wouldn't know.) He's also seen, not entirely without reason, as a bit of a diva. After expressing disgust at his prosecution and calling it a national shame, one friend of mine added, "I think he's trying to get a Nobel.") I don't doubt Pamuk's sincerity--his support for progressive causes in Turkey, and his willingness to speak out against state oppression, go back a long way--but if he actually did claim, as reported by some of the above articles, that "nobody but me dares to talk about" the Armenian genocide, then he's dismissing (and thereby, insulting) the work of number of courageous Turkish intellectuals, journalists, publishers, and activists who for the last several years have been challenging what the NYT editorial above calls "the way [Turkey] attempts to patrol its own history." Many of them lack the celebrity that will, I hope, shield Pamuk from any penalty. I'm glad he uses the platform his fame provides to challenge the hegemonic nationalist narrative of Turkish history, but I hope the media furor over his prosecution will also raise awarness about the cases of Hrant Dink, Ragip Zarakolu, Hüseyin Aygun, and others who have been penalized for speaking out.
Finally-- if this debacle does lessen the chance of the EU agreeing to Turkey's candidacy, it will be a terrible blow to progressive hopes in Turkey. Those who righftully criticize Turkey's troubled human rights record sometimes fail to realize that the prospect of EU membership has done more for the progress of human rights in this country than anything else in the last decade. I'll write more about this later, but many of the progressive Turks I know are fearful that a rejection from the EU will bolster the nationalist and conservative camps and undo many of the victories gained in recent years. So please, write angry letters about the suppression of free speech in Turkey, but also support the EU's continued engagement.
Most of the Turks I've spoken to about this are horrified at the prosecution, both because they see it as unjust and stupid, and because they're deeply worried anti-Turkish forces in Europe will seize upon this as another reason to deny Turkey EU membership. Of course, most of my friends here are leftists, academics, or both, and are therefore not exactly warmly disposed towards nationalist chauvinism and state censorship. So I can't vouch for the representativeness of their views.
That said, the coverage of the prosecution in the international press has made it sound as if the Turkish government itself is going after Pamuk, which as far as I can tell isn't quite the case. Turgay Evsen, a single state prosecutor in İstanbul's posh Şişli district filed the charges in what seems to be an attempt to make a name for himself through nationalist grandstanding--he's previously made similar charges against a Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrank Dink. Turkey's new penal code, which was the subject of much protest by Turkish journalists when it was introduced last spring, includes some worthwhile human rights reforms but also contains a deeply stupid and repressive provision allowing such prosecutions. In the case of Pamuk, I would guess it's quite unlikely that the current Turkish leadership (i.e., Prime Minister Erdoğan and the AK Party) instigated or really support the prosecution--it's embarrassing to them and very damaging to EU-Turkish relations at a crucial time. But they're in something of a political bind, given that the prosector's actions are no doubt wildly popular in nationalist circles. You might consider writing them (list of addresses via Moorishgirl and Bookslut) and encouraging them to dissuade Mr. Evren from this pernicious campaign.
Pamuk's own position is a bit odd: he's massively famous both in Turkey and abroad, but a number of the Turks I know are ambivalent about his literary works (they consider his books creative, but say his Turkish prose is terrible--I haven't yet tried to read him in the original, so I wouldn't know.) He's also seen, not entirely without reason, as a bit of a diva. After expressing disgust at his prosecution and calling it a national shame, one friend of mine added, "I think he's trying to get a Nobel.") I don't doubt Pamuk's sincerity--his support for progressive causes in Turkey, and his willingness to speak out against state oppression, go back a long way--but if he actually did claim, as reported by some of the above articles, that "nobody but me dares to talk about" the Armenian genocide, then he's dismissing (and thereby, insulting) the work of number of courageous Turkish intellectuals, journalists, publishers, and activists who for the last several years have been challenging what the NYT editorial above calls "the way [Turkey] attempts to patrol its own history." Many of them lack the celebrity that will, I hope, shield Pamuk from any penalty. I'm glad he uses the platform his fame provides to challenge the hegemonic nationalist narrative of Turkish history, but I hope the media furor over his prosecution will also raise awarness about the cases of Hrant Dink, Ragip Zarakolu, Hüseyin Aygun, and others who have been penalized for speaking out.
Finally-- if this debacle does lessen the chance of the EU agreeing to Turkey's candidacy, it will be a terrible blow to progressive hopes in Turkey. Those who righftully criticize Turkey's troubled human rights record sometimes fail to realize that the prospect of EU membership has done more for the progress of human rights in this country than anything else in the last decade. I'll write more about this later, but many of the progressive Turks I know are fearful that a rejection from the EU will bolster the nationalist and conservative camps and undo many of the victories gained in recent years. So please, write angry letters about the suppression of free speech in Turkey, but also support the EU's continued engagement.
posted by kitabet at 2:54 PM
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