NOBEL LAUREATE DENIES RELATIONSHIP WITH TURKISH-ARMENIAN ARTIST

epress.am
01.25.2012

Turkey’s Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has denied he is in a romantic
relationship with artist Karolin Fiþekçi, sending her a formal
notification through his lawyer that he would file a legal complaint
if she does not stop her public remarks suggesting that she is the
novelist’s girlfriend, Today’s Zaman reports.

Fiþekçi, a Turkish Armenian painter, was photographed with Pamuk
two months ago at a shopping mall in New York, sparking widespread
speculations in the Turkish media that Pamuk broke up with Indian
writer Kiran Desai and is now together with Fiþekçi.

The 32-year-old painter (pictured below) then has made numerous
statements to the Turkish media confirming the reports and said
Pamuk’s relationship with Desai had ended and that they are mere
business associates now.

Pamuk’s lawyer Haluk Ýnancý said in a formal notification addressing
Fiþekçi that Pamuk last saw Fiþekçi at a mall in New York two months
ago and that he has had no contact with her since. “Fiþekçi is not my
client’s girlfriend,” Ýnancý said. Ýnancý said Fiþekçi’s statements
describing Pamuk’s relationship with Desai as a business relation was
“untrue.”

Ýnancý said Fiþekçi’s statements were an insult to Pamuk’s privacy and
against not only morality but also laws. “My client has not authorized
anyone to speak on his behalf. It seems Fiþekçi is not aware that
she is committing a crime while violating Pamuk’s privacy,” he said,
warning that Fiþekçi will face a legal complaint and a compensation
request if she does not stop her statements.