Istanbul court clears writer of ‘insulting Turkishness’

A TURKISH court yesterday acquitted Elif Shafak, one of that country’s leading authors, saying there was no evidence that she had “insulted Turkishness” in a novel.

The decision is likely to appease the European Union which has warned Turkey that putting writers and journalists on trial under repressive laws could hamper its efforts to join the bloc.

The court, which opened Ms Shafak’s trial yesterday, concluded — after a 90-minute session — that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that she committed a crime.

“We want a country where people are not interrogated because of their novels,” said Muge Sokmen, Ms Shafak’s publisher.

“Her acquittal gives happiness, it is relieving. As the public, we need to be more tolerant to the thoughts of others.”

Angry nationalist protesters briefly clashed with police outside the court room after the ruling.

Turkish authorities have put a string of Turkish writers and journalists on trial for expressing their opinions, despite calls from the EU to scrap a law that penalises the insulting of the Turkish Republic, its officials, or ‘Turkishness’.

Ms Shafak, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona, gave birth to a girl, Sehrazat Zelda, on Saturday.

The author was still at the hospital and did not attend her trial in Istanbul.

“It is a shame, not just for her but for Turkey. The whole process is absurd. I am not worried about the verdict, I am ashamed at the whole process,” said Ms Shafak’s husband, Eyup Can, before the trial started.

Some 25 nationalist protesters outside the court held an EU flag with a Nazi swastika in the middle and a slogan that read: “EU fascism.” The protesters were also holding several Turkish flags.

If she had been convicted, Ms Shafak, aged 35, could have received a three-year prison sentence.