Trial postponed for Turkish writer Pamuk

The trial of Turkish poet and novelist Orhan Pamuk was adjourned Friday, after the judge sought the approval of Turkey's Justice Ministry to proceed.

Judge Metin Aydin adjourned the Istanbul trial until Feb. 7.Pamuk is on trial on charges of "insulting" the Turkish identity.

The charges stem from an interview he gave with a Swiss newspaper earlier this year in which he criticized the Turkish government for refusing to recognize the Armenian genocide.

Pamuk, author of Snow and My Name is Red, is Turkey's most famous writer and says his country is embarrassing itself by trying him.

International groups supporting freedom of expression are watching how Turkey handles the case.

PEN Canada, the Canadian chapter of the international writers' support organization, is urging the Canadian Ambassador to Turkey to request a Canadian official attend the trial.

Pamuk is being tried under a section of the Turkish penal code that says a "person who explicitly insults being a Turk, the Republic or Turkish Grand National Assembly, shall be imposed to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of six months to three years."

The perceived insult was his charge that thekilling of Armenians by forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917 was genocide. He also referred to killing of Kurdish people in the 1980s.

The Swisspaperquoted him as sayingthat "30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it."

The Turkish government has suppressed discussion of the killings and particularly objects to the use of the word genocide. Pamuk faced death threats and a public protest.

Because he is recognized and read around the world, Pamuk is convinced he'll be given a small fine instead of jail time.

But he points out that hundreds of Turkish writers, with much more at stake, end up doing jail time every year under Turkeys draconian laws.

When Pamuk was first charged, one of his friends, a novelist, told him he should he be proud of being arrested because it now makes him a, "real Turkish writer."

Turkey applied this year for membership in the EU and the trial is likely to cast unwelcome attention on its spotty reputation on freedom of speech.

The British branch of PEN says Turkeys laws regarding insult to the Turkish identity contravene the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, both of which Turkey has signed.