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The trial of Orhan Pamuk

Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk has been deeply involved in the debate about the relationship the Muslim world and the West ought to have with each other. He firmly believes that civilisations need not be in perpetual conflict and can find a middle way when they interact. In his novels, which are set in the western literary tradition, this wonderful writer has explored the series of crises his country has lived through since the Ottoman Empire entered its long period of decline. As a result, he has been able to provide valuable insights into the Turkish soul. Mr. Pamuk's stories have not only provided his captivated compatriots with a new sense of self. In translation, they have created a framework that enabled foreigners to understand the character of Turks. Mr. Pamuk should have been treasured as an ideal cultural ambassador for his country. Unfortunately, he has fallen foul of authoritarian `nationalists' because he has shown the courage to delve into issues they would like to keep buried. In December, Mr. Pamuk is to be tried on the criminal charge that he "denigrated Turkishness" by speaking of the massacres perpetrated on Armenians and Kurds in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Turkey's establishment, which has long been in denial, is incensed that the country's best and most popular writer has raked up these issues. Mr. Pamuk, whose works have cast him in the role of the nation's conscience-keeper, has refused to back down. He believes he has a duty to expose the sordid deeds committed in the past so that redress can begin.

Ironically, the trial of Mr. Pamuk is a consequence of the decades-long effort to impose a modern mould on a society that has very strong traditions. Kemal Ataturk, who provided the inspiration for this enterprise, believed the Turkish people needed to rid themselves of the religiosity and backwardness that enfeebled them during the Ottoman period. The Turkish military, which strives to preserve Ataturk's legacy without his élan and vision, has long held the view that the exposé of the Kurd and Armenian massacres would undermine the forward looking nation-state he created from the remnants of a decadent empire. The Turkish people have taken major strides towards modernity, especially over the past decade. Even the Islamicists have come to realise, under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that the country cannot hold its own in the world of today if it continues to deny women and the minorities, ethnic or religious, their rights. Writers and thinkers in many parts of the Muslim world, especially the non-Arab bulk of it, are currently enquiring into the ways by which their societies can be taught to cherish modern, democratic, and even secular values. The Turkish military, which takes pride in its role as a guiding force, must realise that its own cause and the cause of modernity and secularism would be impaired if it persecutes Mr. Pamuk, a luminary of this nascent movement.

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