When the pen is threatened by the sword
Sunday Herald, UK
July 23, 2006
Trevor Royle on Turkey’s persecution of its writers
WritersÊmakeÊhandy scapegoats when despotic regimes decide to defend
the indefensible and in so doingÊmakeÊthemselvesÊlook utterly
ridiculous.ÊBeingÊindependent&#x CA;and working largely in isolation,
authors are soft targets and despite the excellent work undertaken
by organisations such as International Pen and Sara Whyatt’s Writers
in Prison Committee, far too many of their kind are being banged
up all over the world for the crime of daring to speak their mind.
The latest victim is the Turkish writer Perihan Magden who will appear
this week before a court in Sultanhamet, Istanbul on charges that she
turned people against military serviceÓ. For the crime of insisting
that conscientious objection to military service is a human right
all Turkish men are subjected to 15 months compulsory service in
the armed forces Ð she faces three years imprisonment in conditions
which will be pretty grim. As the movie Midnight Express showed all
too vividly, Turkish jails are not for the squeamish.
Best known for her novels 2 Girls and The Messenger Boy Murders,
Magden is no stranger to controversy and has been praised by the
leading Turkish author Orhan Pamuk for her Òcombative independence and
steely conscienceÓ. Pamuk knows what he is talking about Ð earlier
this year he, too, faced prosecution, in his case for allegedly
insulting TurkishnessÓ. He only escaped on a technicality.
What makes these cases more worrying is that they are neither
isolated nor unusual and are usually prompted by the military
authorities. Around 80 Turkish writers are currently facing prosecution
on a variety of charges ranging from insulting the state to questioning
government policy.
The trials have also been accompaniedÊbyÊaÊfairÊdegree&# xCA;ofÊgratuitous
^_violence. Witnesses and the judiciary have been intimidated by
braying mobs inside and outside the courts and in one case, the trial
of Armenian Turkish ^_editor Hrant Dink, there were reports of an
attempted lynching. All this makes for disquieting reading at a time
when Turkey is on the verge of becoming a member of the European Union.
There have already been numerous complaintsÊaboutÊTurkey’sÊhuman rights
record and its refusal to allow freedom of expression. Questions have
also been asked about the extent to which the Turkish military has
a free rein and seems to exist outside government control. Coming on
top of existing concerns about the influence of Islamic fundamentalism
within the country and the prosecution of the Kurdish ^_population,
it’s not difficult to see why theÊwriters’ÊtrialsÊareÊcausin gÊsoÊmuch
^_dismay in the literary community.
In the wider scheme of things there are in fact very few reasons to
deny Turkey membership of the EU. Since the 1920s, when the founder
of modern Turkey Kemal Atat~_rk separated religion from the state,
Turks have longed to be part of Europe. And let’s not forget, in
the days of the Ottoman Empire they ruled most of southeast Europe,
and as far north as the Balkans.
Clerics have no political role, religious parties can and
have been outlawed,ÊtheÊeducationÊsystemÊ ;is ^_secular
and Turkey has emerged as a modern and vibrant country
with much to offer its EuropeanÊneighbours.ÊThat’sÊwhat
ma kes the prosecution of the Turkish writers all the more
disappointing. No countryÊaspiringÊtoÊbeÊconside red civilised
should prosecute people for expressing opinions that go against
the grain;ÊtheÊpreservationÊofÊart isticÊand ^_literary freedoms are
central to any democracy.
By offering the hand of friendship to Turkey last autumn the EU
acknowledged that Islam is central to Europe’s identity and not a
persecuted minority. Now,ÊmoreÊthanÊever,ÊTurkey&#x CA;must reciprocate by
ending these preposterous prosecutions.
–Boundary_(ID_UP+CtgFWG2MVaRjP5yzG cw)–