Nobel prize winner threatened
2007-01-24 18:50
Istanbul - One of the suspects in the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink issued what appeared to be a threat against Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk on Wednesday, the Anatolia news agency reported.
"Orhan Pamuk, be smart, be smart!" Yasin Hayal shouted to reporters as he was being brought to an Istanbul courtroom.
Hayal, a nationalist militant, confessed to inciting the slaying of Dink and to providing a gun and money to the alleged killer, police said.
The suspects in the murder of Dink, an influential voice in Turkey's Armenian community who angered nationalists by calling the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th century genocide, were brought before a court on Wednesday after questioning by police.
An unemployed teenage dropout named Ogun Samast has confessed to the killing, saying he was angered by reading about some of Dink's writings, police said. Hayal said at court that he saw Dink as a traitor to his country, private NTV television reported on Wednesday.
Like Dink, Orhan Pamuk had faced trial in Turkey for commenting on the killings of Armenians and had been accused of treason for doing so. And like Dink, he also said he had received death threats and had considered leaving the country because of them.
Pamuk's case for "insulting Turkishness" was thrown out on a technicality, and he went on to win the Nobel Prize in literature last year. He was the first Turk to do so.
Dink's murder inspired a massive outpouring of support for liberal values, including freedom of expression, tolerance and reconciliation between Armenians and Turks, with more than 100 000 people marching in his funeral procession on Tuesday.
- AP