Award Strengthens Freedom To Publish In Turkey

Award Strengthens Freedom To Publish In Turkey

From: International Publishers Association (IPA), secretariat@ipa-uie.org

The International Publishers Association (IPA) welcomes the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Orhan Pamuk as a way to strengthen freedom to publish in Turkey
Geneva, 12 October 2006

Ana Maria Cabanellas, President of IPA declared earlier today, „We congratulate Orhan Pamuk on being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is an important author who deserves the honour of being awarded the Nobel Prize. His literature is an undeniable –and much needed- bridge between East and West. He is also a free speech advocate whom we supported last year when he was under trial for “insulting Turkishness under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

IPA recently invited Orhan Pamuk to address its 28th World Congress in Seoul on 12-15 May 2008. We sincerely hope that he will accept the invitation of the global publishing community.

„IPA is especially pleased that the honour of the Nobel Prize is being made to such a courageous writer. We hope that this Prize will help highlighting the fact that more than 60 writers and publishers are currently on trial in Turkey solely for expressing their opinions“ added Bjorn Smith-Simonsen, IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee Chair.

No later than last week in Frankfurt, the Freedom to Publish Committee of IPA passed an unanimous resolution urging the Turkish authorities to repeal Article 301 and Law 5816, to drop all the charges against publishers and writers who have expressed or helped express non violent opinions, and to remove once and for all any articles that can be used to suppress the rights as enshrined under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rıghts (ICCPR) and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

More about IPA:

IPA, established in Paris in 1896, represents the publishing industry worldwide through 78 national, regional and specialised publishers associations in 66 countries. IPA is an accredited Non-Governmental Organisation enjoying consultative status to the United Nations. IPA seeks to promote and defend the fundamental freedoms to publish, to read and to write, defending the rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute intellectual works in complete freedom.

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