October 30, 2007 - 14:50 AMT
Orhan Pamuk given doctorate of Georgetown University
Turkey's Nobel prize winning author Orhan Pamuk has been presented with a honorary by the Georgetown University. Pamuk, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2006, was presented with his honorary doctorate in social sciences at a ceremony on Monday.

Praising the author's work, Prof. John DeGioia, the president of Georgetown University, said that in his novels Pamuk wrote about the paradoxes between East and West, modern and traditional and the Western and Islam. His novels contributed to the understanding of humanity, DeGioia said.

Orhan Pamuk left Turkey after assassination of Agos editor-in-chief Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007. Earlier, Pamuk had faced prosecution for "insulting Turkishness" under article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. However, the accusations had been dropped due to the pressure of the international community.