Nobel winner cancels book tour over safety
Jess Smee in Berlin
Thursday February 1, 2007
The Guardian
Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has cancelled a publicity tour of
Germany amid fears for his safety following the murder of
Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink.
Hanser Verlag, Pamuk’s German publisher, confirmed that the celebrated
author had called off a string of book readings in Hamburg, Cologne
and Stuttgart. He was also due to receive an honorary degree at
Berlin’s Free University.
Fears for Pamuk’s safety are running high. Last week, Yasin Hayal, the
man who police claim has confessed to orchestrating Dink’s murder,
issued what appeared to be a threat to Pamuk.
"Orhan Pamuk, be smart. Be smart," he called out to journalists as he
was being taken to an Istanbul courtroom by police. Police are
investigating whether his words constitute a threat to the novelist,
which could lead to Hayal’s prosecution. Both Pamuk and Dink have
been the focus of controversy in Turkey after talking openly about the
mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century. They have been
accused of the crime of "insulting Turkishness".
Pamuk is famed for novels such as Snow and My Name is Red, and won the
Nobel literature prize in 2006. His publisher said that there were no
immediate plans to reschedule the trip to Germany, where Pamuk has a
large readership, partly because of the country’s sizeable Turkish
community.
Dink’s assassination earlier this month has prompted outrage at home
and abroad.
Within Turkey it has sparked fierce debate about excessive nationalism
as well as freedom of expression.