Istanbul, December 7, 2014 (AFP) – Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006, denounced the atmosphere of “fear” in Turkey and the pressure from the Islamic-conservative regime on freedom of the press in a rare interview Sunday a Turkish newspaper.

“The worst is that there is a fear. I see that everyone is afraid, it is not normal (…) Freedom of expression has fallen to a very low level, “said Mr. Pamuk told the Hürriyet newspaper on the occasion of the release of his new novel, not yet translated, six years after the last, “The Age of Innocence museum”.

The writer lamented successful pressure on the media in general in Turkey by power and including legal action and dismissal for opposition journalists. “Many friends come to tell me that this or that journalist lost his job. Now even the closest journalists were driven from power. I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere, “said the novelist 62 years old.

Author of numerous books on Istanbul, his hometown, he also deplored the recent statements of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said that men and women were not equal “because it is against human nature”, causing a controversy of international concern.

“My (last) novel is really about the oppression of women in Turkey (…) If we were to criticize Turkey with a look worn out, it would be for the place of women in society .dropoff window Our policies are thoughtless statements on this point as if he wanted to provoke a fight, “he said in a thinly veiled reference to the controversy generated by the strong Turkish man.

Erdogan led undivided Turkey at the head of the executive from 2003 to 2014 before being elected to the highest office last August. He is accused by his opponents of autocracy and Islamist drift. Mr Pamuk is the Turkish author whose works are the most sold in the world, translated into over 60 languages. It was also the first Turk to receive a Nobel Prize.