I really enjoyed Der Speigel's interview with Orhan Pamuk Orhan Interview
Who can resist a man who knows himself and his beliefs and can state them more clearly than most of us could. "I consider myself a person who comes from a Muslim culture. In any case, I would not say that I'm an atheist. So I'm a Muslim who associates historical and cultural identification with this religion. I do not believe in a personal connection to God; that's where it gets transcendental. I identify with my culture, but I am happy to be living on a tolerant, intellectual island where I can deal with Dostoyevsky and Sartre, both great influences for me".
Anyway, this interview was connected to an article with great news from Istanbul ... A Turkish court has dropped charges against Orhan Pamuk, the author accused of insulting his country by referring to the mass killings of Armenians and Kurds.
A Turkish politician had predicted that the charges would be dropped on BBC's Hardtalk a while ago. I'm glad he proved true.
Erkan posted a link to an interesting article about the situation at < Slate.com
4 comments:
I am glad that everything is settled now. Mr. Pamuk is a gift to Turkish literature. I hope one day i will meet him personally:)
I've been reading his 'Istanbul' and loving it. His office view sounds kind of special and made me think of the Ortakoy Market when I read of it.
I knew Istanbul was under my skin after living there but somedays, reading of something like his view of the city, I get terribly homesick.
You are always welcome back to Istanbul:)It isn't far away. No worries!
I left all my winter clothes in Istanbul, with friends over in Kadikoy (long story)
I'll be back one day soon ... as soon as I'm legal and working, and do you know, I can't wait to come back and visit ... not to work but to luxuriate in wandering with intent. :)
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