eugenlitwin
01-07-2007, 12:33 PM
Writer and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk used a day as guest editor of a newspaper to highlight oppression of intellectuals in his native Turkey.
Mr Pamuk, who has a degree in journalism, was asked to edit the Radikal daily as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations.
His cover story accused the Turkish state of suppressing free expression and oppressing dissident thinkers.
Mr Pamuk, an acclaimed novelist, is a controversial figure in Turkey.
He is the author of works such as Snow and My Name Is Red, and in 2006 won the Nobel Prize for literature.
A year earlier, he had faced charges of "insulting Turkishness" over comments on the mass killing of Kurds and Ottoman Armenians, charges which were later dropped.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifORHAN PAMUK
Born in Istanbul in 1952
Initially trained as an architect
Books translated into more than 40 languages
Novels My Name is Red, Snow and The White Castle hailed as dealing with East/West culture clashes
Prosecuted for "insulting Turkishness" in 2005
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif
Profile: Orhan Pamuk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4535476.stm)
His cover article quoted a 1951 story about Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, declared a traitor and imprisoned for his left-wing views, in which the public were urged "to spit in his face".
"This expression... summarises the unchanging place of writers and artists in the eyes of the state and the press," the cover story said. Other articles on his front page included a piece on the low percentage of women in politics and reactions to video footage of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's execution.
Mr Pamuk, who has a degree in journalism, was asked to edit the Radikal daily as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations.
His cover story accused the Turkish state of suppressing free expression and oppressing dissident thinkers.
Mr Pamuk, an acclaimed novelist, is a controversial figure in Turkey.
He is the author of works such as Snow and My Name Is Red, and in 2006 won the Nobel Prize for literature.
A year earlier, he had faced charges of "insulting Turkishness" over comments on the mass killing of Kurds and Ottoman Armenians, charges which were later dropped.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifORHAN PAMUK
Born in Istanbul in 1952
Initially trained as an architect
Books translated into more than 40 languages
Novels My Name is Red, Snow and The White Castle hailed as dealing with East/West culture clashes
Prosecuted for "insulting Turkishness" in 2005
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif
Profile: Orhan Pamuk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4535476.stm)
His cover article quoted a 1951 story about Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, declared a traitor and imprisoned for his left-wing views, in which the public were urged "to spit in his face".
"This expression... summarises the unchanging place of writers and artists in the eyes of the state and the press," the cover story said. Other articles on his front page included a piece on the low percentage of women in politics and reactions to video footage of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's execution.