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ZARAKOLU TO RECEIVE AAP FREEDOM TO PUBLISH AWARD
Publishers Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/awards-and-prizes/article/51735-zarakolu-to-receive-aap-freedom-to-publish-award.html
April 27 2012
Ragip Zarakolu, a voice for free expression in Turkey, has been
chosen as the 2012 recipient of the Jeri Laber International Freedom
to Publish Award. 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."
Publishers Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/awards-and-prizes/article/51735-zarakolu-to-receive-aap-freedom-to-publish-award.html
April 27 2012
Ragip Zarakolu, a voice for free expression in Turkey, has been
chosen as the 2012 recipient of the Jeri Laber International Freedom
to Publish Award. 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."