US agency calls on Turkey to drop charges against Pamuk

Kathimerini, Greece
Oct 15 2005

US agency calls on Turkey to drop charges against Pamuk

WASHINGTON (AP) - A US government human rights group is calling on
Turkey to drop charges against Orhan Pamuk, a writer indicted for
speaking openly on the Armenian question. The appeal was made by
commissioners of the US Helsinki Commission, which monitors rights
issues, mostly in Europe. They sent a letter to Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging him to authorize the removal of
charges against Pamuk. `A stable democracy cannot blossom until the
government ends the practice of stifling free speech and removes the
clouds of deception and censorship from a true telling of history,'
said Commission Co-Chairman Rep. Christopher Smith.