A best-selling Turkish author has been cleared of ‘insulting the national identity’ in one of her books. Elif Shafak faced up to three years in prison over comments made by her characters. In ‘The Bastard of Istanbul’ they speak of the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. Turkey rejects Armenia’s claim that it amounted to genocide. The court decided there wasn’t enough proof against the author, who didn’t attend the trial having just given birth to a baby girl. Previous cases have seen journalists and writers tried for ‘insulting Turkishness’ . This was the first time a novel had been judged. Critics say Turkey must allow more freedom of _expression before it can join the EU.
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