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Ragip Zarakolu to receive International Freedom to Publish Award
April 28, 2012 - 18:42 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Publisher Ragip Zarakolu, who was released from
Turkish jail lately and is awaiting trial on suspicion of links to
outlawed Kurdish organization, has been chosen as the 2012 recipient
of the Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award.
According to Publishers Weekly, given by the Association of American
Publishers' International Freedom to Publish Committee (IFTPC), the
award will be presented May 1 at the PEN Gala at the Museum of Natural
History in New York.
Zarakolu founded the Belge Publishing House in 1977 with his late wife
Ayse Nur and has defied Turkish censorship laws by translating and
publishing editions of works by Armenian, Greek, Kurdish and other
writers, often dealing with such forbidden subjects as the Armenian
genocide and the repression of Turkey's Kurdish minority. Among
Belge's titles is the Turkish edition of `Black Dog of Fate: An
American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past' by American poet and academic
Peter Balakian, who will present the award on May 1.
Upon learning about the AAP honor, Zarakolu said: `Thank you for the
very important prize and for your support for freedom to publish. I am
pleased to accept this prize not only for myself but on the behalf of
all the publishers, writers and journalists who remain in prison in
Turkey. Although I have been released, I remain under the threat of
re-arrest as the anti-democratic laws and unfair trials continue. The
day I and 14 others were released, 14 more people were arrested. I was
arrested with no reason given and after five months, I was released
with no reason given. I am not a political activist. For nearly 40
years, I have been a publisher and a supporter of human rights.'
From: Baghdasarian
April 28, 2012 - 18:42 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Publisher Ragip Zarakolu, who was released from
Turkish jail lately and is awaiting trial on suspicion of links to
outlawed Kurdish organization, has been chosen as the 2012 recipient
of the Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award.
According to Publishers Weekly, given by the Association of American
Publishers' International Freedom to Publish Committee (IFTPC), the
award will be presented May 1 at the PEN Gala at the Museum of Natural
History in New York.
Zarakolu founded the Belge Publishing House in 1977 with his late wife
Ayse Nur and has defied Turkish censorship laws by translating and
publishing editions of works by Armenian, Greek, Kurdish and other
writers, often dealing with such forbidden subjects as the Armenian
genocide and the repression of Turkey's Kurdish minority. Among
Belge's titles is the Turkish edition of `Black Dog of Fate: An
American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past' by American poet and academic
Peter Balakian, who will present the award on May 1.
Upon learning about the AAP honor, Zarakolu said: `Thank you for the
very important prize and for your support for freedom to publish. I am
pleased to accept this prize not only for myself but on the behalf of
all the publishers, writers and journalists who remain in prison in
Turkey. Although I have been released, I remain under the threat of
re-arrest as the anti-democratic laws and unfair trials continue. The
day I and 14 others were released, 14 more people were arrested. I was
arrested with no reason given and after five months, I was released
with no reason given. I am not a political activist. For nearly 40
years, I have been a publisher and a supporter of human rights.'
From: Baghdasarian