Turkish court dismisses civil damages case against novelist News
Turkish court dismisses civil damages case against novelist

[JURIST] A Turkish court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit seeking compensation from novelist Orhan Pamuk [TIME profile; JURIST news archive], who was sued by six nationalists after he made allegedly unfavorable remarks to a Swiss magazine about Turkey's stance on the mass killing of Armenians during World War II. The lawsuit demanded 6,000 Turkish Lira (US $4,500) from Pamuk to compensate each defendant for "insulting, humiliating and making false accusations."

In January, a Turkish court dropped criminal charges against Pamuk [JURIST report] arising from the same statement. Pamuk was on trial for "public denigration of the Turkish identity," and the case was dropped after the Justice Ministry declared that it was legally not competent to judge whether the case should proceed under the controversial revised penal code [JURIST report]. Criminal charges now stand against journalists Hrant Dink and Murat Belge [JURIST reports] for "insulting Turkishness" by referencing the alleged Armenian genocide. Pravda has more.

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