Turkish author Pamuk likens secular class’ attitude to South African racism

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet photo

Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk likened the attitude of the secular class toward conservatives to that of "the attitude of South Africa's white people toward blacks."

During an interview with Germany's Die Zeit, Pamuk said the secular class "looks down on women who wear headscarves [and] hate their own citizens."

"That attitude reminds me of the attitude of South Africa's white population toward the blacks," Pamuk said.

He also branded what he called the "upper Turkish secular class" as egoists, saying they were not bothered by military interventions or the Kurdish issue.

Pamuk, however, admitted that he was also a part of the bourgeoisie.

"Their life is my life. We are of the same class and of the same street. We shop from the same stores," Pamuk said. "I wrote lovingly of them and I mocked them as well."