PUBLISHERS, GUILDS CRITICIZE FOREIGN LANGUAGE BAN AT KOCAELI PRISON
Vercihan Ziflioglu

Hurriyet Daily News
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Restrictions on the Kurdish language are still in place at a
high-security prison in Kocaeli. Translator guilds and publishers
object to inmates being deprived of access to resources in other
languages, which are guaranteed constitutionally

Members of the publishing sector and translator guilds have slammed
the alleged violation of inmates’ rights, highlighting the situation
faced by one prisoner in a high-security prison in the western province
of Kocaeli.

Publications in foreign languages are subjected to security
restrictions in Turkish prisons. Translator Tonguc Ok was put in a
solitary cell in a high-security prison in Kocaeli in 2008 under a
life sentence without the possibility of release. Ok was recently
surprised at a move by the prison management restricting his ability
to receive foreign books.

Books in Spanish and Kurdish that Ok ordered were not delivered to
him under the justification that publications in foreign languages
were not allowed for prisoners due to "security concerns." Through his
lawyers, Ok sent a letter to writers and translators guilds and filed
a complaint against the prison management. The mentioned guilds took
action after receiving the letter and released statements criticizing
the prison management.

Although the case ended a short while ago and the ban preventing some
publications in foreign languages entering the prison was lifted,
it is still in effect for letters and publications in Kurdish.

Ok was convicted for taking part in a robbery during his time as a
university student. The robbery ended with a casualty and while Ok
confessed to the robbery attempt, he denied his involvement in the
death. However, because Ok could not offer evidence to prove his claim,
he was also convicted for murder.

120 liras per page for letter in Kurdish

Tevfik TaÅ~_, secretary-general of the Writers Union of Tur ws &
Economic Review that in his second letter, Ok wrote that although
some of the publications in foreign languages are allowed, they are
still having great difficulties when it comes to Kurdish. Prisoners
of Kurdish origin have had to pay 120 Turkish Liras to certified
translators for each page of Turkish translation of their letters,
and the prisoners still could not receive letters sent to them by
their families.

TaÅ~_ quoted a few sentences from Ok’s letter: "Many of our friends
in prison cannot send the novels, stories and essays they write
to the outside world because they are in Kurdish; therefore, they
cannot get them published. I could not send a one-page story called
"Gelincikler," which I translated from Turkish into Kurdish from Pars
Tuglacı’s Armenian Literature Anthology for Tîroj magazine. Before,
they used to say inspections [of the material] cannot be done since
there are no Kurdish-speaking personnel in prison. However, telephone
conversations in Kurdish are being made in prison, and of course they
are monitored and the contents are recorded. Therefore the difficulty
of the lack of Kurdish-speaking personnel must be exaggerated. Despite
this, the ban continues."

Clause three of Article 5275

TaÅ~_ said the convicts in Kocaeli’s high-security prison are being
kept in solitary cells and are only allowed to see another person
for a couple of hours a day. "To prevent those people from reading
means cutting their only connection with life," he said. TaÅ~_ said
the restriction on publications in foreign languages is linked to
clause three of Article 5275 of the Turkish Penal Code. "The mentioned
article is like one written as a precaution against Kurdish. It is so
open-ended that anyone may interpret or practice it anyway they like."

TaÅ~_ said the prison warden of the Kocaeli high-security prison was
a good example of that. "The previous prison warden was not making
it difficult to access publications in foreign languages. However
the new manager interpreted this article of to his own liking and
started to implement bans," he said.

‘What is being experienced does not concur with constitutional rights’

"Is it a crime for prisoners to read books or translate?" asked Hasan
Anamur, president of the Association of Translators, voicing his
protest, adding, "It should not be forgotten that the convicts have
the right to access sources that others can without obstacles." Anamur
cited the Ok’s situation and said such situations were violations of
a person’s constitutional rights and the relevant authorities should
immediately look into legal articles featuring such restrictions. Cavit
Nacitarhan, editor in chief of Evrensel Publishing, with which Ok is
affiliated, said: "In such times when bans are lifted and initiatives
are voiced, it is impossible to accept such an embargo on the person’s
effort to read, learn and produce. Ok is a valuable translator who
has translated dozens of foreign works into our language."