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 Çetin 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; Atatürk 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 Akçam, 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.
