ANKARA - Turkish prosecutors have dropped their case against novelist Orhan Pamuk for allegedly insulting Turkey's armed forces, but the writer still faces charges that he insulted "Turkishness."

In a case that attracted global attention Pamuk was charged with insulting Turkishness for having told a Swiss newspaper in February that "30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares talk about it." However, the case has damaged Turkey's efforts to portray itself as a more democratic country after years of reform.

European officials have criticized Turkey for putting Pamuk on trial and have called on the country to do more to protect freedom of expression.

Prosecutors decided on Thursday there were no grounds to try Pamuk for insulting the military, said nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz, who had petitioned prosecutors regarding Pamuk.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked for patience to see how proceedings continue under Article 301 of the new penal code. ?I believe that whatever freedoms require will happen. The government will do whatever is necessary,? Erdogan said in televised remarks on Wednesday night.

A probe launched by Turkish prosecutors to determine whether he should be prosecuted for insulting the Turkish military in remarks he made earlier this month is ?no surprise,? according to senior European Parliament member Joost Lagendijk, who said the real surprise was that a group of nationalist lawyers initiated the call last week for his prosecution.

Lagendijk said the goal of those behind the complainant was ?to place obstacles before Turkey's EU membership process.