Nobel Literature announced at sensitive time

Orhan Pamuk is praised for combining Eastern and Western culture (Photo: AFP)

But the award was also criticized as " political " rather than a purely literary decision, especially because it was published on the day of the lower house of the French through the bill, whereby anyone covered it. receiving Turkish Ottoman Empire to slaughter Armenians in World War One will be convicted.

The bill still has to wait for the French Senate to approve, but it has angered in Turkey.

The EU said the adoption of this bill could harm efforts to end decades of controversy over the issue.

Turkey said it was a slap for Turkish-French relations and Turkey's Economic Minister threatened to have consequences for the French company.

Writer Pamuk, 54, was accused of "insulting" by a court in Istanbul after he announced Turkey's refusal to face the two most divisive chapters in the calendar: the Armenian massacre in World War One and Kurdish guerrilla movement in Turkey.

The accusation of the writer was only lifted in January, ending the trial that angered Western Europe and jeopardized Turkey's efforts to join the EU. Horace Engdahl, head of the Swedish Academy, emphasized Pamuk's political notion to influence the decision to award the Nobel.

"He is a controversial figure in your country, but on the other hand, almost all of our winners are also people like that."

Engdahl said Mr. Pamuk was chosen because he "extended the roots of contemporary fiction" thanks to his relationship with both Eastern and Western cultures.

Atilla Koc, Turkish culture minister, said he was happy to believe the award.

But Pinar Kur, a famous Turkish novelist, said: "In Turkey and abroad, people know this tournament is more political than literature."

Mr. Pamuk's prize is the first prize since 1988 for a writer from a country with a majority of Muslims. In 1988, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Naguib Mahfouz from Egypt.