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Turkish novelist appeal
Aug. 16th, 2006 12:15 amMy dear friends sculptor Beckie Kravetz and journalist Alan Weisman have alerted us to this awful situation, which I hope you can help - Beckie writes:
A colleague of Alan's and close friend of ours is in need of support. Elif Shafak is a Turkish novelist who has a half-time position at the U of Arizona and lives the other half of the year in Istanbul. She is an extraordinary person (and a wonderful writer) and has been charged by some right-wing Turkish authorities with "offending Turkishness" because of remarks made by a fictional character in her most recent novel. If convicted she could face up to three years of jail time. Her trial is scheduled for late September, just days before the due-date of the birth of her first child. It is a horrid situation, and we fear that Elif is being used as a pawn by right-wing extremists who, among other things, want to keep Turkey out of the EU. A male writer was recently charged with the same "crime" and then let off, so we suspect that the fact that Elif is an independant and outspoken woman in a Muslim country is also coming into play here. The full details on her case and proper authorities to whom to write are at this website. The site includes a link to a sample letter (lower right corner) and there are addresses and Fax numbers there too.
An excellent article about the case appeared the the British newspapers. There was also an NPR interview with Elif about the trial that can be heard here.
We would be very grateful if you could write a letter to support her case, and pass this along to anyone who might be willing to do the same. We have no idea if this will make any difference to the authorities, but it does help Elif to know that folks are acting on her behalf. Many many thanks.
A colleague of Alan's and close friend of ours is in need of support. Elif Shafak is a Turkish novelist who has a half-time position at the U of Arizona and lives the other half of the year in Istanbul. She is an extraordinary person (and a wonderful writer) and has been charged by some right-wing Turkish authorities with "offending Turkishness" because of remarks made by a fictional character in her most recent novel. If convicted she could face up to three years of jail time. Her trial is scheduled for late September, just days before the due-date of the birth of her first child. It is a horrid situation, and we fear that Elif is being used as a pawn by right-wing extremists who, among other things, want to keep Turkey out of the EU. A male writer was recently charged with the same "crime" and then let off, so we suspect that the fact that Elif is an independant and outspoken woman in a Muslim country is also coming into play here. The full details on her case and proper authorities to whom to write are at this website. The site includes a link to a sample letter (lower right corner) and there are addresses and Fax numbers there too.
An excellent article about the case appeared the the British newspapers. There was also an NPR interview with Elif about the trial that can be heard here.
We would be very grateful if you could write a letter to support her case, and pass this along to anyone who might be willing to do the same. We have no idea if this will make any difference to the authorities, but it does help Elif to know that folks are acting on her behalf. Many many thanks.