Elif Shafak accused of "denigrating the Republic"

Iris Alanyali reports that in Turkey yet another author has been accused of "denigration of the Republic". Elif Shafak will be taken to court because of a number remarks by characters in her new novel 'The Bastard of Istanbul' which refer to the mass murder of Armenians. The Istanbul-based public prosecutor Kerim Kerincsiz, who also attempted to have Orhan Pamuk brought to trial, filed the suit. "Kerincsiz's manoeuvres seldom come to anything," Alanyali comments. "With Pamuk the case didn't even go to trial, and even the case against Shafak was initially dismissed by an Istanbul court, until the lawyer filed an appeal. It seems Kerincsiz's main priority is to put obstacles in the path of intellectuals who are trying to gradually convince Turkey to make a critical review of its past."

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