New Statesman
May 8, 2006

Commentary

BYLINE: Alev Adil

Literature matters in Turkey – really matters. Just about every
Turkish writer with an international reputation has been persecuted
by the state, from the nation’s greatest poet, Nazim Hikmet, who died
in exile in Moscow, to Orhan Pamuk. Even the prime minister, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, did time for misquoting poetry.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that the controversial columnist and
novelist Perihan Magden is to be prosecuted, too. Magden’s
bestselling latest novel Two Girls, the story of an intense lesbian
affair, was recently published in the UK to acclaim. Writers such as
Pamuk and Magden are among Turkey’s most convincing ambassadors as
the country bids to join the EU, not because they peddle any
political agenda, but because they articulate the complex and
compelling hybridity of modern Turkey. You’d think they would be
lauded for providing a fresh vision of their homeland, but instead
Turkey seems intent on prosecuting its writers.

Magden will stand trial on 7 June, charged with “alienating the
people from military service”. In a column in Aktuel in December last
year, she drew attention to the case of Mehmet Tarhan, a
conscientious objector imprisoned for refusing to do military
service. Magden suggested that a modern country with ambitions to
enter the EU should respect the rights of conscientious objectors and
provide non-violent options such as community service. For this she
faces three years’ imprisonment.

Magden isn’t alone. Around 60 writers, publishers and journalists
have been before the courts in Turkey in the past year, many charged
under Article 301 of the penal code, which states that “a person who
explicitly insults being a Turk, the Republic or Turkish Grand
National Assembly, shall be imposed a penalty of imprisonment for a
term of six months to three years”. Recent cases include Hrant Dink,
editor of the Armenian-Turkish-language weekly Agos; the publishers
Ragip Zarakolu and Fatih Tas; and the journalists Ismet Berkan, Murat
Belge, Haluk Sahin, Hasan Cemal and Erol Katircioglu. Turkey amended
its penal code last year, in an attempt to remove human-rights
anomalies from its law. But the EU’s enlargement commissioner, Olli
Rehn, has said that such trials have cast a shadow over Turkey’s
application. Perhaps that’s just what Magden’s prosecutors want.

The plight of Turkey’s writers reflects clashes in the wider culture.
The country’s identity is in flux as it moves into the 21st century,
with capitalism, minority rights, feminism, Islam, secularism,
socialism and multiculturalism coexisting uneasily. Magden is a
feisty and courageous woman. She’s a playful writer, but that doesn’t
mean she isn’t serious. When it comes to freedom of expression,
there’s everything to play for in modern Turkey, but the stakes are
high and the game is a dangerous one. Without international pressure,
Magden could end up in jail.