The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor is investigating books published by Aram Publishing Company, including several books by slain Kurdish poet Musa Anter, on charges of "propaganda for an illegal organisation".
(BIANET/IFEX) – 23 January 2012 – The Istanbul Public Chief Prosecutor is investigating 10 books published by the Aram Publishing Company for allegedly promoting “propaganda for an illegal organization via the media”.
As reported by Selda Guneysu in “Cumhuriyet” newspaper, of the 10 books under investigation, three are written in Kurdish. Several of the books were written by Kurdish poet and writer Musa Anter, who was killed in an armed attack in 1992.
Musa Anter’s son, Dicle Anter, released a statement about the investigation. “The prosecutor’s office forwarded questions to us like, ‘Why do you print the books of a dead man?’ They want to tell us to be silent, not to talk and not to look. They are silencing the intellectuals,” he stated.
Dicle Anter noted that his father’s books had last been banned in 1962 and he claimed that the attitude from 50 years ago still prevails. He said, “You know of the triangle during the term of Tansu Ciller: the state, the mafia and the gangs. Now, this triangle is the state, the army and the judiciary. We do not know what we will do within this triangle,” he said.
