Turkish novelist faces up to three years in prison

Turkish renowned novelist Orhan Pamuk could face up to three years in prison for stating that Armenians were the victims of genocide 90 years ago, said his publisher on Wednesday. Pamuk is also under investigation for comments he made that 30,000 Kurds have recently killed in clashes with Turkish security forces. "A lawsuit has been filed against Orhan Pamuk that could result in a three-year prison sentence," Iletisim Publishing said in a statement faxed to Reuters. Pamuk voiced his opinion during an interview in Das Magazin, the weekly supplement of Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger on February 6, 2005. "Thirty thousand Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it," Pamuk was quoted as saying in the interview. Since the comments were made Pamuk has received anonymous death threats. The public prosecutor in Istanbul's Sisli district found Pamuk's remarks violated Turkey's newly revised penal code, which deems denigration of the "Turkish identity" a crime, the publisher of Iletisim, Tugrul Pasaoglu, told Reuters. Pasaoglu said the first hearing in Pamuk's trial was scheduled for Dec. 16. The prosecutor's office declined to comment on the case.Â