Court drops Turkish writer’s case
A Turkish court has dropped a case against the country’s internationally renowned writer Orhan Pamuk, who faced charges of “insulting Turkishness”.
The move came after the justice ministry refused to issue a ruling as to whether the charges should stand.
The case drew criticism from the EU, which Turkey hopes to join one day.
Mr Pamuk was said to be delighted that charges had been dropped. They related to his remarks on Turkish 20th-Century killings of Kurds and Armenians.
Brussels had described the case as a litmus test of Turkey’s EU membership credentials.
The European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the court’s decision to drop charges was “good news for freedom of expression in Turkey”.
Later in the article, they mention more specifics of the reason behind the charges:
The case stems from a magazine interview last year in which Mr Pamuk said: “One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares talk about it.”
I am glad, then, that I live in the US where I can freely say what a jackass my current gov’t is and what a fool my appointed president is.
However, I might just go do a Google search for jackass and fool, just to see if I am questioned later.