CBC News, Canada
February 15, 2007 Thursday 4:58 PM GMT
Turkish writer reported in exile in U.S.
Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk has fled his home country of
Turkey and is now living in exile in the United States, reports say.
Pamuk, the author of Snow and My Name is Red, is believed to have
received death threats, according to a report in the International
Herald Tribune.
He recently cancelled a speaking tour he had lined up in Germany. At
that time he was said to be living with a 24-hour security detail.
Last month, a Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor who had written about
the the 1915 killings of Armenians in Turkey was slain by an Islamist
radical who had also made threats against Pamuk.
Turkey has strongly denied Armenian claims that about 1.5 million of
their people were killed systematically by Ottoman Turks in a
"genocide."
Pamuk was charged with "insulting Turkishness" after he gave an
interview to a German newspaper in 2005 that mentioned those
killings. He was acquitted on a technicality.
Parmuk’s growing international stature after winning the Nobel Prize
win has likely made him a high-profile target.
Pamuk flew to the New York on Feb. 1 to begin a lecture tour of
American universities, the Tribune reported, and he is unlikely to
return to Turkey.
People close to Pamuk have declined to comment because of the
"sensitivity of Pamuk’s position."
Pamuk’s writing career has been dedicated to examining Turkish
society and the relationship between ancient traditions and modern
life.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
