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Zarakolu Receives PEN Freedom Award
asbarez
Saturday, May 12th, 2012
Peter Balakian introduced Turkish publisher Ragip Zarakolu's children,
Seref and Zerrin Holle, at PEN awards ceremony.
BY DORIS V. CROSS
NEW YORK - At the annual Literary Gala held by PEN on May 1 at the
Museum of Natural History, Istanbul publisher Ragip Zarakolu was the
recipient of the annual Association of American Publishers' Jeri Laber
International Freedom to Publish Award. Peter Balakian, whose memoir
Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past was
published in a Turkish edition by Zarakolu's Belge Publishing House,
presented the award to his two children, Seref and Zerrin Holle.
Zarakolu, who has been repeatedly jailed for challenging free
expression restrictions in his country, and was recently released
pending trial, was not well enough to make the trip from Istanbul.
In addition to Ragip Zarakolu, Eskinder Nega, one of Ethiopia's most
courageous journalists, was honored with the Barbara Goldsmith Freedom
to Write Award. Nega is currently in prison and standing trial on
manufactured terrorism charges. He could face the death penalty if
convicted. Nega's wife, Serkalem Fasil, has been jailed herself for
her journalism, and traveled from Addis Ababa to accept the award on
her husband's behalf `at a time when freedom of expression and press
freedoms are at the lowest point in Ethiopia.'
This year's PEN Literary Service Award was conferred on Edward Albee
as `a writer whose critically acclaimed work illuminates the human
condition in original and powerful ways.'
In accepting the Freedom to Publish Award on behalf of Ragip Zarakolu,
his children Seref and Zerrin Holle read a message from their father.
Seref began, `I spoke with Ragip a couple of hours before coming over
here. He wanted to personally apologize for not being able to make it
tonight, and he asked my sister Zerrin and I to share this letter with
you':
I want to thank the International Freedom to Publish Committee of the
Association of American Publishers for the honor of the Jeri Laber
award.
When I entered the field of publishing in 1977 by establishing Belge
International in Istanbul I did not expect to spend the next 35 years
struggling for freedom of expression. I assumed it would be
accomplished in a matter of years.
Belge began in response to the undeclared civil war of the late 1970's
that resulted in the 1980 military dictatorship in Turkey. Since that
time Belge has been dedicated to the open discussion of political and
historical taboos. I have always believed that such discussions were
necessary for the democratisation of Turkey.
For years civilian governments have promised this democratisation but
it is never realized. Unfortunately the current government has
continued for nearly a decade to delay the necessary reforms. As long
as the 1982 constitution and its supplemental anti-democratic laws and
decrees exist the freedom to publish remains threatened.
Freedom of expression is not a favor to be granted by sultans,
dictators or prime ministers; it is a universal right. If in a
country the expression of independent thoughts and their publication
becomes a matter of courage, that country is in a grave situation.
While I am fortunate to have been released from Kandira Prison, many
other publishers, editors, writers and journalists, including my son
Deniz, remain in prisons throughout Turkey. I gratefully accept this
award in their honor.
I also want express my gratitude to both the American PEN Center and
the American Association of Publishers for their many years of
support. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Since founding Belge in 1977 with his late wife, Ayse Nur, Zarakolu
has defied Turkey's
censorship laws by translating and publishing Turkish editions of
works by Armenian, Greek, Kurdish and other writers, dealing with such
forbidden subjects as the Armenian genocide and the repression of
Turkey's Kurdish minority. If Zarakolu is convicted of the present
charges against him he faces up to 15 years in prison.
In Balakian's introductory remarks he recalled first meeting Zarakolu
in 1998, at the Frankfort Book Fair.
Ragip was there to receive a prize from the Frankfort Book Fair on
behalf of his wife, Ayse Hur, who was in prison in Turkey. We became
friends and he would soon be my Turkish publisher, bringing out a
beautiful edition of my memoir Black Dog of Fate, which deals with the
Armenian genocide. Ragip opened up a new world for me - and as my first
Turkish friend he would become a bridge to another side of Turkish
society - a more complex and rich Turkey - that many of us had hoped
somehow to find. For many of us, who wrote on the Armenian genocide in
particular, had been objects of ridicule from the Turkish nationalists
we had encountered.
When you meet Ragip, you immediately encounter his quiet strength,
warmth and gentleness that lets you know that he is at home with
himself and his life. His life's work is an emanation of who he is. He
is humble about his work, but he is confident about what his work is
and means. He is courageous and he inspires courage.
He and his late wife Ayse - and now their son Deniz who is also in a
Turkish prison at this time for his work as a publisher - have devoted
their lives to bringing intellectual freedom and democracy to Turkey.
And Ragip's present wife, Katherine Holle, and children Seref and
Zerrin have been sustaining forces to this project in the past decade.
Ragip's recent arrest is set in a long context of Turkish repression
of intellectuals and free expression. Turkey (along with China and
Syria) has had consistently one of the worst human rights records over
the past decades. And, this year, Reporters Without Borders has noted
that the recent arrests of 99 journalists in Turkey is the worst `wave
of arrests since the military dictatorship.' Zarakolu was part of that
purge.
Imagine a publisher in Turkey bringing out books year in and year out
on the following subjects: the Greek expulsion from Turkey; the
tragedy of the Turkish left; torture and capital punishment in Turkey;
the status of Turkish prisons; the `Kurdish question'; the Armenian
Genocide; the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Pontic Greeks and
Assyrians; anti-Semitism; the rights of women in Turkey.
If you think of the hundreds or perhaps thousands of books that come
out each year in the US on parallel or equivalent subjects you realize
that Ragip Zarakolu's publishing company is this entire sector of
intellectual life for Turkey, and you get a sense of what he means to
his nation.
And yet he has been rewarded by his government with endless trials,
harassment, persecution, and imprisonment. His late wife Ayse was in
prison or on trial more than 30 times. His publishing company was
bombed, destroyed by Turkish nationalists in 1996. At the moment Ragip
is out on bail but he will have to stand trial for being accused of
that endless false pretext called `terrorism' for supporting and
publishing works on Kurdish rights. And through all of this Ragip has
proceeded with calm, with patience, with perseverance, with grace and
dignity, with great courage, and with a love of what he does. Ragip
has said, `I'm not an activist, I'm just a publisher.'
He is more than a publisher, he is a force for democracy, intellectual
freedom, and the very foundation of human society in Turkey over the
past 40 years - and he is an embodiment of these realties for all
societies, because intellectual freedom is something that can never be
taken for granted.
PEN American Center is the largest of the 144 centers of PEN
International, the world's oldest human rights organization and the
oldest international literary organization. The Freedom to Write
Program of PEN American Center works to protect the freedom of the
written word wherever it is imperiled. It defends writers and
journalists from all over the world who are imprisoned, threatened,
persecuted, or attacked in the course of carrying out their
profession.
From: Baghdasarian
asbarez
Saturday, May 12th, 2012
Peter Balakian introduced Turkish publisher Ragip Zarakolu's children,
Seref and Zerrin Holle, at PEN awards ceremony.
BY DORIS V. CROSS
NEW YORK - At the annual Literary Gala held by PEN on May 1 at the
Museum of Natural History, Istanbul publisher Ragip Zarakolu was the
recipient of the annual Association of American Publishers' Jeri Laber
International Freedom to Publish Award. Peter Balakian, whose memoir
Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past was
published in a Turkish edition by Zarakolu's Belge Publishing House,
presented the award to his two children, Seref and Zerrin Holle.
Zarakolu, who has been repeatedly jailed for challenging free
expression restrictions in his country, and was recently released
pending trial, was not well enough to make the trip from Istanbul.
In addition to Ragip Zarakolu, Eskinder Nega, one of Ethiopia's most
courageous journalists, was honored with the Barbara Goldsmith Freedom
to Write Award. Nega is currently in prison and standing trial on
manufactured terrorism charges. He could face the death penalty if
convicted. Nega's wife, Serkalem Fasil, has been jailed herself for
her journalism, and traveled from Addis Ababa to accept the award on
her husband's behalf `at a time when freedom of expression and press
freedoms are at the lowest point in Ethiopia.'
This year's PEN Literary Service Award was conferred on Edward Albee
as `a writer whose critically acclaimed work illuminates the human
condition in original and powerful ways.'
In accepting the Freedom to Publish Award on behalf of Ragip Zarakolu,
his children Seref and Zerrin Holle read a message from their father.
Seref began, `I spoke with Ragip a couple of hours before coming over
here. He wanted to personally apologize for not being able to make it
tonight, and he asked my sister Zerrin and I to share this letter with
you':
I want to thank the International Freedom to Publish Committee of the
Association of American Publishers for the honor of the Jeri Laber
award.
When I entered the field of publishing in 1977 by establishing Belge
International in Istanbul I did not expect to spend the next 35 years
struggling for freedom of expression. I assumed it would be
accomplished in a matter of years.
Belge began in response to the undeclared civil war of the late 1970's
that resulted in the 1980 military dictatorship in Turkey. Since that
time Belge has been dedicated to the open discussion of political and
historical taboos. I have always believed that such discussions were
necessary for the democratisation of Turkey.
For years civilian governments have promised this democratisation but
it is never realized. Unfortunately the current government has
continued for nearly a decade to delay the necessary reforms. As long
as the 1982 constitution and its supplemental anti-democratic laws and
decrees exist the freedom to publish remains threatened.
Freedom of expression is not a favor to be granted by sultans,
dictators or prime ministers; it is a universal right. If in a
country the expression of independent thoughts and their publication
becomes a matter of courage, that country is in a grave situation.
While I am fortunate to have been released from Kandira Prison, many
other publishers, editors, writers and journalists, including my son
Deniz, remain in prisons throughout Turkey. I gratefully accept this
award in their honor.
I also want express my gratitude to both the American PEN Center and
the American Association of Publishers for their many years of
support. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Since founding Belge in 1977 with his late wife, Ayse Nur, Zarakolu
has defied Turkey's
censorship laws by translating and publishing Turkish editions of
works by Armenian, Greek, Kurdish and other writers, dealing with such
forbidden subjects as the Armenian genocide and the repression of
Turkey's Kurdish minority. If Zarakolu is convicted of the present
charges against him he faces up to 15 years in prison.
In Balakian's introductory remarks he recalled first meeting Zarakolu
in 1998, at the Frankfort Book Fair.
Ragip was there to receive a prize from the Frankfort Book Fair on
behalf of his wife, Ayse Hur, who was in prison in Turkey. We became
friends and he would soon be my Turkish publisher, bringing out a
beautiful edition of my memoir Black Dog of Fate, which deals with the
Armenian genocide. Ragip opened up a new world for me - and as my first
Turkish friend he would become a bridge to another side of Turkish
society - a more complex and rich Turkey - that many of us had hoped
somehow to find. For many of us, who wrote on the Armenian genocide in
particular, had been objects of ridicule from the Turkish nationalists
we had encountered.
When you meet Ragip, you immediately encounter his quiet strength,
warmth and gentleness that lets you know that he is at home with
himself and his life. His life's work is an emanation of who he is. He
is humble about his work, but he is confident about what his work is
and means. He is courageous and he inspires courage.
He and his late wife Ayse - and now their son Deniz who is also in a
Turkish prison at this time for his work as a publisher - have devoted
their lives to bringing intellectual freedom and democracy to Turkey.
And Ragip's present wife, Katherine Holle, and children Seref and
Zerrin have been sustaining forces to this project in the past decade.
Ragip's recent arrest is set in a long context of Turkish repression
of intellectuals and free expression. Turkey (along with China and
Syria) has had consistently one of the worst human rights records over
the past decades. And, this year, Reporters Without Borders has noted
that the recent arrests of 99 journalists in Turkey is the worst `wave
of arrests since the military dictatorship.' Zarakolu was part of that
purge.
Imagine a publisher in Turkey bringing out books year in and year out
on the following subjects: the Greek expulsion from Turkey; the
tragedy of the Turkish left; torture and capital punishment in Turkey;
the status of Turkish prisons; the `Kurdish question'; the Armenian
Genocide; the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Pontic Greeks and
Assyrians; anti-Semitism; the rights of women in Turkey.
If you think of the hundreds or perhaps thousands of books that come
out each year in the US on parallel or equivalent subjects you realize
that Ragip Zarakolu's publishing company is this entire sector of
intellectual life for Turkey, and you get a sense of what he means to
his nation.
And yet he has been rewarded by his government with endless trials,
harassment, persecution, and imprisonment. His late wife Ayse was in
prison or on trial more than 30 times. His publishing company was
bombed, destroyed by Turkish nationalists in 1996. At the moment Ragip
is out on bail but he will have to stand trial for being accused of
that endless false pretext called `terrorism' for supporting and
publishing works on Kurdish rights. And through all of this Ragip has
proceeded with calm, with patience, with perseverance, with grace and
dignity, with great courage, and with a love of what he does. Ragip
has said, `I'm not an activist, I'm just a publisher.'
He is more than a publisher, he is a force for democracy, intellectual
freedom, and the very foundation of human society in Turkey over the
past 40 years - and he is an embodiment of these realties for all
societies, because intellectual freedom is something that can never be
taken for granted.
PEN American Center is the largest of the 144 centers of PEN
International, the world's oldest human rights organization and the
oldest international literary organization. The Freedom to Write
Program of PEN American Center works to protect the freedom of the
written word wherever it is imperiled. It defends writers and
journalists from all over the world who are imprisoned, threatened,
persecuted, or attacked in the course of carrying out their
profession.
From: Baghdasarian