Orhan Pamuk considers that Turkey can join Europe

Asked by François Busnel about Turkey's capacity to be integrated in Europe, Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish writer and 2006 Nobel Prize winner for literature, answers by using his native city as an example. "Istanbul is indeed part of Europe, since my football club, Galatasaray, is playing in the European Cup championship... If you ask me if Istanbul is in Europe, my answer is that you need only look at a map of the world to see so. However, more seriously, we are not up to standard for the time being. This said, I think that Turkey should, culturally, be capable of joining European democracies in the Union. But without denying what it actually is. Turkey's desire to become part of Europe poses the following questions: what is European culture ? Is it history ? Is it geography ? Or is it something else ?"

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