And so the grand old circus that is the West’s relationship with its outskirts draws a temporary close to another interesting chapter. In January, Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was held on trial for comments he made to a Swiss magazine concerning one of his homeland’s many historically dark episodes, namely the extermination of over a million Armenian and Kurdish people during 1915, while the rest of the world was busy elsewhere. This, along with many other Genocidal faux pas’ that Turkey has indulged in over the centuries, is a taboo subject, encouraged to be so by the oppressive government; how can you move on if you are constantly looking back? Say he. The crime? “Insulting Turkishness”, an offence against etiquette that carries with it a sentence of up to three years. The eyes of Europe fell on Turkey, who, as it happens, are currently desperately trying to convince the EU to let them join. All those nations that are against Turkey’s membership rose their hands with gleeful constipation crying, “look, sir, sir, look.” The nations who could not care less, (i.e. the ones with the power), leaned across their desk with drowsy eyes. “Stop it,” they said and returned to their parlour games. The Turkish Government, embarrassed and nothing more, it seems, dropped the case like a child being told to put that biscuit back. If the EU believe that with the expulsion of this criminal case Turkey has with it shed her history of oppression and censorship, the EU clearly has taken very little interest in Turkey at all. There is no doubt that if Mr Pamuk were not Turkey’s only current internationally renowned novelist, translated into thirty five languages at last count, he would now be sat in one of their famously hospitable prison cells. Is the EU to forget recent history? Has it even checked this stuff out? It was only in the 1980’s that poet, activist and founder of the Nesin Foundation that educates poverty-stricken children, Aziz Nesin, had his hotel burned to the ground by a mob of Turkish Nationalists who had taken exception to some of his writings while the army sat atop their vehicles smoking their dark fecal cigarettes watching on with their usual apathetic cool. Aziz Nesin, thankfully, escaped with his life. Thirty-seven others did not. Pamuk himself, in an episode frighteningly reminiscent of this chapter in Nesin’s remarkably interesting life, was attacked by a mob as he entered and exited court for a hearing before Christmas, his car almost being overturned as it slowed to drive through the huge screaming throng. (If a convicted child-killer were allowed to be treated this way in transit in the UK, for example, it would be shouted from the pulpits across the land, that this is not how a civilised society treats its criminals.) Nobody can really claim that by excusing one internationally respected writer of his impudence that Turkey is now a liberal Eden. But, and it must be said, at least now they are listening, even if that is because the West now has something they want rather than something they want to keep away. My point is not to attack Turkey for its values; however much I may personally disagree with them I must admit that if I were Turkish, I may feel differently. My point is the reaction of Europe to this episode. Turkey will still not release the names of those Greek Cypriot’s executed during the illegal invasion of the island in 1974, numbering over two thousand men women and children, known throughout the south of the island as “the missing”. Indeed, the invasion has never even been a matter of debate when discussing Turkey’s membership of the EU. Yet Orhan Pamuk’s trial seems to have become a litmus test for Turkey’s moral and human rights credentials. Now, I have to stop myself here, because I was under the impression that Turkey are eager to join a progressive, inclusive, modernist European “Nation” not an imperial age Gentleman’s club: “Oh, don’t worry about those little island dwelling chicken-farmer’s, Old Boy, but we’ve heard tell you’ve locked up a writer. This simply won’t do.” (I do only write this with the knowledge that should Turkey take offence at this article and wish to prosecute me I would have the full backing of the European Reform Club, Pall Mall.)
This article first appeared in CFUK magazine winter 2006