EU Views Famed Writer’s Trial as Test of Turkey

One of the most prominent authors in Turkey was set to go on trial today in an internationally publicized case widely seen as a further test of the nation’s commitment to free expression as it seeks membership in the European Union.

Orhan Pamuk, 53, was expected to appear in court in the Istanbul district of Sisli, charged with “public denigration of Turkish identity.” The charge stems from an interview he gave to a Swiss magazine in February in which he said that “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares talk about it.”

Pamuk, a writer who has been compared to James Joyce and Salman Rushdie, was referring to two of the most fraught issues in modern Turkey: the brutal repression of Kurdish separatists in the last two decades and the genocide campaign carried out by Ottoman Turkish forces from 1915 to 1918 that claimed the lives of more than 1 million of the collapsing empire’s Armenian subjects.

Pamuk’s assertion prompted fury among millions of Turks, who accused the author of betraying and humiliating their nation overseas. In August, an Istanbul prosecutor charged Pamuk under Article 301 of the penal code that criminalizes “insulting Turkishness, the republic and the institutions and organs of the state.”

If found guilty, the famed author could face up to three years in jail. Yet, even the most liberal commentators have remained markedly silent over his plight, leaving the European Union, which opened membership talks with Turkey on Oct. 3, to rise to the author’s defense.

“It is not Orhan Pamuk who will stand trial tomorrow but Turkey,” Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner in charge of enlargement for the alliance, said in a statement Thursday.

His view was echoed by scores of European lawmakers, human rights activists and others who have streamed to Turkey to observe the trial.

“This is a litmus test of whether Turkey is seriously committed to the freedom of expression and reforms that enhance the rule of law and benefit all Turkish citizens,” added Rehn, a self-proclaimed fan of Pamuk.

But the legal ambiguities surrounding the case have led some experts to speculate that it might be dropped. Hopes that Pamuk would be spared prosecution surfaced this week when his lawyers cited a Dec. 2 court ruling. In it, the court noted Pamuk’s alleged offense was committed before Turkey amended its penal code to harmonize the law with EU legislation.

The court argued that the author should therefore be tried under the previous law, which ironically is more favorable to the defendant because of loopholes in the new code, but that the Justice Ministry would have to authorize such a move.

Should Justice Minister Cemil Cicek fail to deliver an opinion by today, the court could adjourn the trial and, should he persist in his silence, dismiss the case altogether, experts quoted by the Turkish media said.

Pamuk has repeatedly said that he would probably be cleared of any wrongdoing should the trial proceed. His optimism is shared by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told an Australian newspaper last week that “the result may very well be that he will be acquitted.”

EU officials warned nonetheless that until the government thoroughly overhauls its criminal justice system, which was modeled in the 1930s on that of Fascist Italy, Turkey’s efforts to become the EU’s first predominantly Muslim member will be frustrated by the overzealous actions of local prosecutors.

“Flaws in the judicial system remain the principal obstacle to the implementation of reforms and need to be scrapped if Turkey is ever to join the EU,” said a European diplomat, who, as is customary for foreign envoys, requested anonymity.

There are dozens of other writers and publishers on trial in Turkey for so-called thought crimes, with less attention given to their cases.

Hrant Dink, publisher of Agos, a weekly that serves the nation’s small ethnic Armenian community, was convicted in October under Article 301. He received a six-month suspended sentence for exhorting fellow Armenians to purge their hatred of Turks, in a piece that nonetheless was seen as an insult to Turkey.