The statement comes after growing reactions and boycotts over the participation of controversial writer Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul to the European Writers' Parliament.
Some Turkish writers already announced their intention to boycott the event, while others have declared that it is an insult to Muslims to invite Naipaul to the meeting as a guest of honor. Cihan Aktas, one of World Bulletin writers, also decided to boycott the meeting.
On behalf of the European Writers' Parliament, Dünar Hızal from the Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency made a written statement, claiming, "VS Naipaul's participation to the European Writers' Parliament 'politicized' by the Turkish media, therefore the ultimate goal of the event and VS Naipaul's contribution to it as an author were overshadowed."
Hizal also said in the statement that, "For this reason, as a result of compromise between the organizers of the European Writers' Parliament and VS Naipaul, the author has withdrawn his participation to the European Writers' Parliament as of 23 November 2010."
Naipaul is a Trinidadian writer of Indian descent who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He caused an outcry in 2001 by comparing the “calamitous effect” of Islam on the world with colonialism. He claimed that Islam had both enslaved and attempted to wipe out other cultures.
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