Turkish novelist wins Nobel prize in literature

Turkey's most prominent novelist Orhan Pamuk has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work examining the role of Islam in society. The head of the Royal Swedish Academy said his writings ""enlarged the roots of the contemporary novel" by linking Western and Eastern culture.

Earlier this year an Instanbul court dropped charges of state slander against him, for comments he made in a Swiss magazine article about Turkey's stance on the mass killing of Armenians during World War II. In July, another Turkish court dropped a slander suit brought against him by six Turkish nationalists. Pamuk is a visting professor at Columbia University.

Source: Jurist Legal News and Research, October 12.