There have been some stories in Turkish media, the gist of it being that the Swedish Academy was subjected to pressure from Kurdish exile groups in order to deny the recently deceased author Ya��ar Kemal the Nobel Prize in literature, and that the Academy also caved in to this.

Let me be perfectly clear here: none of this is true.

I have seen no such campaign trying to stop Kemal from receiving the prize, neither have I ever heard of such a campaign taking place. The plain silliness of this story is demonstrated by the fact that the alledged decision to deny Kemal the award is said to have been taken by its permanent secretary, a certain ���Olof G. Tandberg���. No ���Olof G. Tandberg��� has ever been a member of this Academy, and no person with this name has of course ever been its permanent secretary.

From time to time the Academy is subjected to campaigns, mostly about promoting an author, sometimes about trying to do the opposite thing. It never works. At least not as intended. If it has an effect, it is in the form of a backfire of sorts. The Academy is in all respects an independent body, and reacts almost vehemently to attempts to tell us what we should or should not do.

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Det har f��rekommit en del historier i turkisk media som i korthet g��r ut p�� att Svenska Akademien varit f��rem��l f��r p��tryckningar fr��n kurdiska exilgrupper i syfte att f��rv��gra den nu avlidne f��rfattaren Yasar Kemal Nobelpriset i litteratur, och att vi ocks�� l��t oss p��verkas.

L��t mig vara helt tydlig h��r: detta ��r bara struntprat.

Jag har inte sett n��gon s��dan kampanj i syfte att hindra Yasar Kemal fr��n att sk��nkas priset, och inte heller har jag n��gonsin h��rt talas om att en s��dan kampanj har ��gt rum. Hur f��nig den h��r historien ��r visas av det faktum att den som s��gs ha beslutat att Kemal ej skulle ges priset var dess st��ndige sekreterare, en viss ���Olof G. Tandberg���. Ingen ���Olof G. Tandberg��� har n��gonsin varit ledamot i denna akademi, ��n mindre dess st��ndige sekreterare.

Tid efter annan uts��tts Akademien f��r olika kampanjer, f��r det mesta i syfte att underst��dja en viss f��rfattares kandidatur, ibland i hopp om att n�� motsatt effekt. Det fungerar aldrig. Om de alls har en verkan, s�� ��r det i form av ett slags motreaktion. Svenska Akademien ��r en i alla h��nseenden oberoende institution, och reagerar n��ra nog instinktivt p�� s��dana h��r f��rs��k att diktera vad vi ska eller inte ska g��ra.