ISTANBUL: In Orhan Pamuk’s birthplace and source of literary inspiration neighbours congratulated him for winning this year’s Nobel literature prize but, like many Turks, were less happy about his political opinions.
While a respected novelist abroad, Pamuk has provoked the wrath of many Turks for his comments on issues ranging from the alleged genocide of Armenians during the World War I to the fight against Kurdish separatists.
“For a Turk it’s something that gives you a lot of pride,” said Mutlu Alim who fits Pamuk for his glasses in a store across the street from where his relatives live and he was born.
Pamuk shied away from the store when it was crowded. His preference was for the classic style of glasses.
“I know he’s gotten a lot of criticism for what he’s said about the Kurds and the genocide, but he’s not a bad person,” Alim said.
Pamuk caused uproar when he told a Swiss newspaper last year nobody in Turkey— a country seeking European Union membership— dared mention what he called the killing of a million Armenians in World War I by Ottoman Turks, or of 30,000 Kurds in recent years.
Turkish authorities deny any systematic killing of Armenians and see the Kurdish deaths as largely the fault of insurgents.
Nationalist prosecutors brought a case against him for insulting the country’s identity. A Turkish court later dropped the charges on a technicality, and after EU pressure.
“There are things you should not say even if they are true. You should wait until the right time and the right place. Turkey’s place is very difficult right now, economically and politically,” said Akin Oraloglu, who has been working in a jewellery store across from Pamuk’s family home for almost 30 years.—Reuters
