15 February 2017

Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk confirmed that Hürriyet newspaper censored his interview in which he declared that he would vote “no” in constitutional amendment referendum

Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk has a made a statement following the allegations that the interview Hürriyet newspaper’s Representative to Washington Cansu Çamlıbel made with him was censored and not published.

Pamuk made a short statement to Platform Against Censor and Auto-Censorship (susma24.com) and said “Unfortunately the report is true”.

Noting that Çamlıbel asked of his opinion about the referendum in the interview, Pamuk said “I responded I would vote ‘no’ and explained the justification lying behind my decision. Later, the interview hasn’t been published”.

Cansu Çamlıbel had replaced Tolga Tanış as the Hürriyet’s Representative to Washington. Doğan Group, which incorporates Hürriyet, had sacked  a Kanal D news speaker İrfan Değirmenci for having said he would vote no.

Following sacking of Değirmenci, Director in Charge of the Değirmenci’s program Ertuğrul Albayrak said “I was asked to remain, I refused. Working at a hamburger store seems to be more probable but still, we’ve decided to live with honor. Our conscience is clear” and resigned.

This publication has been produced within the project European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, co-funded by the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project's page