Turkish novelist presented with highest French order of merit

ISTANBUL (A.A) -  Internationally-acclaimed Turkish novelist Yasar Kemal on Saturday received France's highest order of merit.    Great Chancellor of the French national order of the Legion of honor General Jean-Louis Georgelin decorated the Turkish writer with "l'ordre national de la légion d'honneur" in a ceremony held at the French Palace in Istanbul's Beyoglu district.   "I have always believed that hope is one the biggest values of the human kind. An I have always tried sing the song of hope," Kemal told the ceremony. Other holders of the French merit from Turkey includes Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, former Foreign Minister Murat Karayalcin, late Professor Ihsan Dogramaci, and businesswoman Guler Sabanci.