EU backs Turkey over French law

October 13, 2006
International Herald Tribune
By Sebnem Arsu The New York Times

ISTANBUL Senior European Union officials sided with Turkey on Friday in a growing controversy over legislation in France that would make it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I constituted genocide.

A statement by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, coincided with satisfaction in Turkey that Orhan Pamuk, who has been involved in controversy over the Armenia issue, had been named the first Turkish novelist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"We don't think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the context of the European Union's relations with Turkey," The Associated Press quoted Barroso as saying in Helsinki. "This is not the best way to contribute to something we think is important."

The French National Assembly approved the bill Thursday and it now moves to the Senate for action. Turkey has denounced the legislation.

The EU commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, also quoted by The AP, said the bill, "instead of opening up the debate, would rather close it down, and thus have a negative impact."

"We don't achieve real dialogue and real reconciliation by ultimatums, but by dialogue," Rehn continued. "Therefore, this law is counterproductive."

Many Turkish newspapers, meanwhile, showered Pamuk with praise, but some also noted the irony that a writer who had faced charges of "insulting Turkishness" for saying that "one million Armenians were killed in Turkey" during World War I, was awarded the prize on the day of the vote in France.

"Pamuk who is given the Nobel Prize, accepts the Armenian genocide," said Ozdemir Ince, a critic of the novelist. "Turkey has been put on sale and Turkish history has been sold in an auction at the lowest price."

Bulent Arinc, the speaker of Parliament, praised Pamuk but called on him to help clarify the debate surrounding his prize. "Since he is a writer, what are his thoughts on the law in France that massacres freedom of expression?" Arinc asked. "Not only the Turkish society but the whole world is curious about it."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Pamuk in New York on Friday to congratulate him. The writer is teaching at Columbia University for a semester.

Turkey has denied charges that it committed genocide against the Armenians and asserts that Armenians and Turks alike were killed in civil unrest during World War I. The issue often results in charges against intellectuals and writers in court: The genocide claim is regarded as an insult to Turkish identity and is considered a crime.

Many writers voiced support for Pamuk. "We welcomed his prize with great joy," Vecdi Sayar, the head of PEN in Turkey, said in Milliyet newspaper. "Various interpretations are being and will be made but I think this prize will make serious contributions to Turkish literature."

Yasar Kemal, another of Turkey's best-known novelists, who has himself faced prosecution, congratulated Pamuk. "I trust that you will continue writing new novels with the same passion. I have no doubt that you will also stand by what you believe in with full determination," he said in a message printed in the Turkish press.

Pamuk, in a news conference in New York on Thursday declined to respond to accusations that his selection was a political decision.

In a statement to the newspaper Radikal, he said: "I consider this prize as one given to Turkish culture, literature and writers as a whole. I would like my country to be proud and help me carry it."

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.