Pamuk believed to be in exile in US

The Turkish author Orhan Pamuk has reportedly left his home country to live in America amid fears for his life. The Nobel laureate is believed to be at risk of assassination in Turkey following the murder of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink last month. Threats appeared to have been made against Pamuk by the man who confessed to orchestrating the murder.

The International Herald Tribune reported on Thursday February 1 that Pamuk had boarded a plane for New York to begin a lecture tour of American universities and, according to Fatih Altayli, a prominent columnist writing for the Turkish daily newspaper Sabah, he has no plans to return to Turkey.

“What I was told was more than mere rumour: Pamuk recently withdrew $400,000 from his bank account and said he would leave Turkey and would not be returning to his country anytime soon,” wrote Altayli. According to the Daily Telegraph, those close to Pamuk have declined to comment publicly on the report because of the “sensitivity of Mr Pamuk’s position”.

In 2005 he was tried in an Istanbul court for the crime of “insulting Turkishness” under the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, but was acquitted on a technicality a month later. This week, Turkey’s foreign minister backed calls to amend the article, but not to repeal it.

Link to the Guardian article

Previously:
Orhan Pamuk wins Nobel literature prize
Nobel winner recounts tumultuous writing career
Nobel laureate Pamuk runs Turkish paper for a day