Our Person of the Decade- Orhan Pamuk

Given that I am an American of Turkish heritage, the choice of Turkish author Orhan Pamuk ("Snow," "My Name is Red," "The Black Book") is a relatively easy selection for Person of the Decade.

Along with Turkish film director/photographer Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Pamuk has helped Turkey achieve a significant boost in its cultural image abroad at a time when the country is facing political upheaval, due in part to the election of an Islamic political party into office.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul have pledged not to undermine Turkey's secularism countless times, but there is still constant fear that their election does indeed threaten not only Turkey's long-standing separation of mosque and state since 1923, but also the nation's acceptance in the West.

Figures such as Pamuk, who is quite controversial in Turkey, are thus more important than ever.

Pamuk, who grew up and still maintains a partial residence in Istanbul (he splits his time with New York) was featured on a Dec. 28 broadcast of "The Charlie Rose" on PBS, which is available for streaming at Rose's web site: www.charlierose.com

Rather than give an exhaustive biography of Pamuk and his many achievements, including winning the Nobel Prize for literature, I thought I would profile him using his own quotes.

Here is a sample of them:

"I see Turkey's future as being in Europe, as one of many prosperous, tolerant, democratic countries."

"The secularists in Turkey haven't underestimated religion, they just made the mistake of believing that they could control it with the army alone."

"I think perhaps it is a generational thing. I talk to younger people and they say, 'Where is this melancholy city you talk about? My Istanbul is a sunny place.'"