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TURKISH WRITER TIRELESS IN FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH
By Jeff Heinrich, The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
May 10, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
Ragip Zarakolu speaks in Montreal tonight. He's considered a radical
by Ankara for saying his homeland is in denial about Armenian genocide.
Ragip Zarakolu was just a boy when he first learned of the Armenian
genocide of 1915 to 1917. His mother told him it indirectly killed
her father - through disease. Little did Zarakolu realize that, as
a Turk, he would make it his life's work to publish the truth about
the genocide.
Considered radical by the authorities in his homeland, Zarakolu,
58, has been in and out of jail since the 1970s for opposing Turkey's
censorship laws. Books he has published have been seized and destroyed,
and he has been fined repeatedly.
Now, in a trial that began in November, he faces up to six more years
in jail for translating and publishing the journal of an Armenian
pogrom survivor edited by the man's granddaughter, retired McGill
University professor Dora Sakayan.
While he waits for the trial to resume June 21 in Ankara, Zarakolu
lives in Connecticut with his second wife and travels on lecture
tours. Tonight, he's been invited by the Congress of Armenian Canadians
to address about 300 local Armenians in St. Laurent.
The subject of his speech, taboo in Turkey, is one whose truth has been
acknowledged by the governments of 21 countries, including Canada,
that 1.5 million minority Armenians died during forced evacuations
by the Ottoman Turkish government from 1915 to 1917.
"If Turkey wants to be a strong state and show that it's a great
nation, then it must take responsibility for the genocide," he said
yesterday in an interview after flying to Montreal.
"There was injustice, and Turkey must accept that."
Zarakolu grew up on the Princes' Islands, off the coast of Turkey
southeast of Istanbul. His father was governor of the islands, a
multicultural place where they and other Turks mixed with Armenians,
Jews and Greeks.
"I never thought of them as a danger, or anything stupid like that,"
he recalled yesterday. "I grew up with them. There was always a
connection."
An honorary member of PEN, the international writers' association,
Zarakolu has a lot of support both inside and outside his homeland
as he campaigns to get Turkey to remove an article from its penal
code that criminalizes free speech.
Established a year ago, Article 301 makes it illegal to publish
material that "denigrates Turkishness" and the institutions of
the state, be they the government, the judiciary, the military or
the state security apparatus. Under the law, doing so from outside
Turkey is sanctioned more severely - it increases one's jail sentence
by one-third.
About 60 other publishers, journalists and writers are also being
prosecuted under the law, which has raised considerable controversy
as Turkey negotiates membership in the European Union.
The Turkish government has long refused to call the events of 1915
to 1917 a genocide. Its official position is that the Armenians died
in the context of the First World War - from disease and starvation -
and not that the state had a role in planning mass extermination.
In Montreal yesterday, Turkish consul-general Gerard Emin Battika did
not respond to a Gazette request to clarify his government's position
and comment on Zarakolu's visit.
"The importance of people like Mr. Zarakolu is to show the world
that it's not just non-Turks, but also Turkish people who want to
see the democratization of their country and recognize what was wrong
in their history," said Taro Alepian, chairperson of the Congress of
Armenian Canadians.
"Then all of us, collectively, will be able to turn the page on
history and finally have closure. When Turkey finally admits that
the genocide occurred, the wound will start to heal."
Ragip Zarakolu speaks tonight at 8 p.m. at the Tekeyan Centre, 805
Manoogian St., in St. Laurent. The speech will be in English.
[email protected]
By Jeff Heinrich, The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
May 10, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
Ragip Zarakolu speaks in Montreal tonight. He's considered a radical
by Ankara for saying his homeland is in denial about Armenian genocide.
Ragip Zarakolu was just a boy when he first learned of the Armenian
genocide of 1915 to 1917. His mother told him it indirectly killed
her father - through disease. Little did Zarakolu realize that, as
a Turk, he would make it his life's work to publish the truth about
the genocide.
Considered radical by the authorities in his homeland, Zarakolu,
58, has been in and out of jail since the 1970s for opposing Turkey's
censorship laws. Books he has published have been seized and destroyed,
and he has been fined repeatedly.
Now, in a trial that began in November, he faces up to six more years
in jail for translating and publishing the journal of an Armenian
pogrom survivor edited by the man's granddaughter, retired McGill
University professor Dora Sakayan.
While he waits for the trial to resume June 21 in Ankara, Zarakolu
lives in Connecticut with his second wife and travels on lecture
tours. Tonight, he's been invited by the Congress of Armenian Canadians
to address about 300 local Armenians in St. Laurent.
The subject of his speech, taboo in Turkey, is one whose truth has been
acknowledged by the governments of 21 countries, including Canada,
that 1.5 million minority Armenians died during forced evacuations
by the Ottoman Turkish government from 1915 to 1917.
"If Turkey wants to be a strong state and show that it's a great
nation, then it must take responsibility for the genocide," he said
yesterday in an interview after flying to Montreal.
"There was injustice, and Turkey must accept that."
Zarakolu grew up on the Princes' Islands, off the coast of Turkey
southeast of Istanbul. His father was governor of the islands, a
multicultural place where they and other Turks mixed with Armenians,
Jews and Greeks.
"I never thought of them as a danger, or anything stupid like that,"
he recalled yesterday. "I grew up with them. There was always a
connection."
An honorary member of PEN, the international writers' association,
Zarakolu has a lot of support both inside and outside his homeland
as he campaigns to get Turkey to remove an article from its penal
code that criminalizes free speech.
Established a year ago, Article 301 makes it illegal to publish
material that "denigrates Turkishness" and the institutions of
the state, be they the government, the judiciary, the military or
the state security apparatus. Under the law, doing so from outside
Turkey is sanctioned more severely - it increases one's jail sentence
by one-third.
About 60 other publishers, journalists and writers are also being
prosecuted under the law, which has raised considerable controversy
as Turkey negotiates membership in the European Union.
The Turkish government has long refused to call the events of 1915
to 1917 a genocide. Its official position is that the Armenians died
in the context of the First World War - from disease and starvation -
and not that the state had a role in planning mass extermination.
In Montreal yesterday, Turkish consul-general Gerard Emin Battika did
not respond to a Gazette request to clarify his government's position
and comment on Zarakolu's visit.
"The importance of people like Mr. Zarakolu is to show the world
that it's not just non-Turks, but also Turkish people who want to
see the democratization of their country and recognize what was wrong
in their history," said Taro Alepian, chairperson of the Congress of
Armenian Canadians.
"Then all of us, collectively, will be able to turn the page on
history and finally have closure. When Turkey finally admits that
the genocide occurred, the wound will start to heal."
Ragip Zarakolu speaks tonight at 8 p.m. at the Tekeyan Centre, 805
Manoogian St., in St. Laurent. The speech will be in English.
[email protected]