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'Insulting Turkishness' case reopens against bestselling author

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  • 'Insulting Turkishness' case reopens against bestselling author

    'Insulting Turkishness' case reopens against bestselling author

    Guardian Unlimited; Jul 07, 2006

    A decision in Istanbul's seventh high criminal court this week has
    reopened the prosecution of bestselling Turkish novelist Elif Shafak
    on charges of "insulting Turkishness". She faces a maximum jail term
    of three years if convicted.

    The charges were brought under Article 301 the Turkish criminal code,
    which was also used in the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk earlier this
    year. The charges were reportedly based on remarks made by a character
    of Armenian ancestry in her novel, The Bastard of Istanbul - the
    character describes the death of Armenians during the first world
    war as a genocide. The case was thrown out last month after Shafak
    argued that the book was a work of literature and that comments made
    by fictional characters could not be used to press charges against
    an author.

    But following a complaint filed by Kemal Kerincsiz, a member of a group
    of rightwing lawyers known as the Unity of Jurists, the seventh high
    criminal court has overruled the decision not to proceed, reigniting a
    process that could end with jail sentences for Shafak, her publisher,
    Semi Sokmen, and her translator, Asli Bican.

    "The situation in Turkey has changed since the introduction of
    Article 301 last year," Sara Whyatt, director of the Writers in
    Prison Committee at International PEN, told the Guardian today. "One
    has seen mainstream writers such as Orhan Pamuk, Perihan Magden and
    Elif Shafak being prosecuted.

    "It seems to me that these prosecutions are being driven by a rightwing
    element within the Turkish judiciary, which is concerned about the
    Turkish application to join the EU," she added.

    Whyatt did not expect Shafak's case to be resolved quickly. "So far
    nobody has been convicted under Article 301," she said, "but I think
    the trials are intended to harass and intimidate these writers and
    journalists. They often take many months and many hearings, often
    accompanied by violence inside and outside the courts. Elif Shafak
    is at the beginning of what could be a long and painful process."

    She expressed dismay at recent events in Turkey - more than 60
    writers and journalists have faced trial in the past year, many under
    Article 301: "International PEN is calling for this prosecution to be
    halted, and for the laws that allow for writers and journalists to be
    prosecuted, simply for their writing, to be removed once and for all."

    Writer and translator Maureen Freely, who attended the trial of
    Orhan Pamuk earlier this year, described a campaign of choreographed
    intimidation against writers and their supporters. "These prosecutions
    are all being targeted by bands of disciplined fascists.

    Although the police who are there have now undertaken to protect the
    defendants, they first and foremost protect the fascist agitators and
    give them an opportunity to harass and intimidate all those who have
    gone to support fellow writers or observe the trial, both inside and
    outside the court house."

    She compared the atmosphere in Istanbul to Germany in 1935. "People
    are getting a lot of intimidation," she said. "This is very sinister
    and you have to ask, in a country which is ably governed, why this
    is being allowed to happen."

    Freely pointed to a resurgence in academia and the arts, and a
    willingness to examine a wide range of subjects that have been
    taboo: "There is a dynamic group of writers, academics, feminists
    and publishers, some of whom have mixed ethnic backgrounds, who are
    exercising their democratic rights to explore these issues."

    These efforts were under-reported in the western media, which chose
    to focus on the forces reacting to it, she said. "It's a bit scary,"
    she added, "but I'm impressed by what people are writing, singing and
    publishing, and I just want to ensure that they are able to continue
    to do so."

    A date has not yet been set for Shafak's trial.
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