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ANKARA: Writing Is A Courageous Endeavor In Turkey

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  • ANKARA: Writing Is A Courageous Endeavor In Turkey

    WRITING IS A COURAGEOUS ENDEAVOR IN TURKEY
    by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

    Today's Zaman
    Nov 1 2011
    Turkey

    Writing and being an opponent in Turkey has always been hard. There
    is no single serious writer or columnist who had not been jailed in
    this country in the 1950s, '60s or '70s.

    This has been the case since the time of the prominent names of
    Turkish novel literature like Kemal Tahir and Orhan Kemal (whose
    name I share), as well as Cetin Altan and Nazım Hikmet. In Turkey,
    dissidents and opponents have been locked up in prison.

    Of course, jailing was not the only way to silence writers; hundreds
    of intellectuals have been abducted and assassinated in this country.

    Even as late as the 1990s, pro-Kurdish papers were bombed in Turkey.

    We no longer live in a Turkey where papers are bombed and journalists
    are assassinated. But it is still a courageous endeavor to write or
    say anything substantial in Turkey.

    There is tremendous pressure upon writers in Turkey. This is a very
    pro-communal country. Everyone lives within a certain community.

    Raising an argument contrary to the priorities and agendas of
    that community always requires courage in Turkey. This applies
    to somebody who lives in a Kemalist community and those who live
    in a socialist community or in a pro-Kurdish group or a religious
    entity. In our culture, the individual is sacrificed to the group,
    and for this reason, individuals are not allowed to say anything
    that goes against the values of the group; otherwise, they'll face
    the danger of exclusion or expulsion from their respective communities.

    In addition, Turkey is a country of taboos. We hold many kinds of
    taboos. We have made a taboo out of religion; Ataturk is still a taboo;
    we have been brainwashed by the arguments of the official version of
    history; it is still impossible to talk about the Armenian question in
    detail. When you attempt to talk about the great lies in our history,
    this causes a frenzy and a reaction. For some, the foundation of
    the republic is a taboo; and others do not want to see the Ottoman
    heritage touched or criticized.

    The obstacles to free thought are countless. Any column you write
    may become a reason for you to be summoned to the office of the
    prosecutor. There are 40 articles in the criminal code that can
    restrict freedom of expression; you may step on one of these mines at
    any time. Most recently, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
    attracted attention to one of these mines. In a lawsuit filed by
    Taner Akcam, the court ruled against Turkey over Article 301. There
    are many other similar provisions in our penal code. Unexpectedly, you
    may be prosecuted because of a column you write concerning obscenity
    charges, an attempt to obstruct fair justice or an attempt to acquire
    information and documents pertinent to national security. I think it
    is not even necessary to talk about the Counterterrorism Law (TMK).

    It becomes even more difficult to criticize the government and the
    prime minister. A mechanism of auto-censorship is in place on this
    matter. The prosecutors were replaced in the Deniz Feneri investigation
    in which people known for their close relations with the government
    were on trial; but with a few exceptions, no one said anything about
    this in the Turkish press. Likewise, there are many rumors concerning
    corruption in Justice and Development Party (AK Party) municipalities;
    but you cannot read a single line in a paper on this subject.

    Do not think that these are all of the troubles that writers have to
    face. Now criticizing the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) requires
    courage in Turkey. The PKK openly threatens whoever criticizes it,
    and unfortunately, intellectuals who are threatened are left alone in
    their cause. The PKK wants us to overlook a totalitarian organizational
    structure, an approach that turns the individual into a tool, and
    the terrorist methods it employs. It expects us to show the tolerance
    that we do not show the state in Turkey to its actions.

    Claiming that it is fighting in the name of people suffering from
    brutality, it dictates that we should exempt it from our criticism.

    In addition to all these troubles, we now have a Turkey suffering from
    the repercussions of extensive polarization. All want to read columns
    that confirm the truths of their camps and undermine the opposite.

    They want to see everything within a stark contrast of black and
    white. People are outraged; they only ask writers to speak on their
    behalf and raise this outrage. I do not refer to Today's Zaman
    readers when I say this. I am talking about the expectations of an
    average reader that reads papers in the Turkish language. You would
    be surprised if you read these papers. Two separate and irrelevant
    Turkeys are narrated in these papers; one group of papers argues that
    everything is just fine, whereas another claims that everything is
    simply terrible. I think one of the hardest things is to tell people
    who expect these black-and-white versions anything.

    For all these reasons it becomes even harder to write a column in
    Turkey, as doing so really requires courage; courage to face yourself,
    your community, your society and the state at all levels.

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