International Pen
By Angus Watson

FT
February 23 2007 16:54

On January 19 2007, the Armenian-Turkish writer Hrant Dink was shot
dead for something he didn’t say. A 17-year-old named Ogün
Samast confessed to the murder: `I read on the internet that he said:
`I am from Turkey, but Turkish blood is dirty’, and I decided to kill
him. I have no regrets.’ Dink had said nothing of the sort. However,
he had been charged repeatedly under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal
code, which makes it a crime to insult `Turkishness’, and so was on a
hate list for ultra-nationalistic Turks.

`There is increasing international awareness that Article 301 led
directly to Dink’s death,’ says Caroline McCormick, executive director
of International PEN, a charity that champions freedom of speech, or,
as PEN member Tom Stoppard points out: `not free speech ` one cannot
shout `Fire!’ in a crowded cinema ` but free comment on the way that
society operates.’

In Turkey, International PEN is using its weight as literature
representative for Unesco and adviser to the European Union on
Turkey’s membership: `We are trying to have 301 abolished,’ explains
McCormick. `I think we have a realistic chance.’

Turkish writer Elif Shafak was arrested last year under 301 for the
views of a fictional character in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul:
`International PEN was very active before and during my trial,’ she
says. Despite her acquittal, however, she has `become more anxious
when writing. Laws such as Article 301 breed self-censure and that is
their biggest danger. Self-censure is worse than any legal fine.’

Defending writers’ freedom is just one role of International
PEN. McCormick says: `PEN has three goals. First, to promote
literature. This goal is often overlooked, when it’s the frame of
reference for everything we do. The second is freedom of expression,
the third to develop a world community of writers and readers.’

The charity was founded in London in 1921 for Poets, Playwrights,
Essayists and Novelists (PPEN became PEN), and early members included
Joseph Conrad and HG Wells. Membership is now open to all professional
writers, and PEN has 15,000 members in 144 centres in 101
countries. It is funded by membership, bodies such as Unesco, national
governments, and corporate and private sponsorship.

International PEN is a `bottom-up’ construction, in that local PENs
are created by writers who form a group then apply to the central
body. Stoppard explains the inspiration to form a PEN: `I always felt
that being a writer was somewhere between a stroke of luck and a
privilege. Joining PEN helps offset that feeling of privilege.’

A PEN is currently forming in Iraq. McCormick is at pains to point out
that this was instigated by Iraqi writers. Shafak says: `It is very
important that International PEN’s work is a collaboration. When a
western organisation’s move is interpreted as an `goutside
intervention’ it serves only to create a backlash.’

Stoppard says: `When I joined PEN there was a rallying cry that we
couldn’t do anything for anybody else’s freedom if we didn’t look
after our own?.?.?. ?Yet there’s been continuous
encroachment on personal liberty here [in Britain]. Regulations that
lay down markers for how we behave are proliferating. This erosion of
freedom is actually more insidious than locking up a high-profile
writer. For someone who’s just had their seventh grandchild, I think
life is pretty depressing but I like to think that it would be worse
without PEN. ‘

Last year English PEN launched its Freedom of Expression Is No Offence
campaign. Perhaps we should express ourselves by rallying behind it.

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