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IPA condemns issue of international arrest warrant for exiled Turkish publisher

12 September 2018   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

In Turkey, a court has issued an Interpol red notice for exiled Turkish publisher and human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu, reports Turkish newspaper Ahval.

Zarakolu is the director of Belge Publishing House, which has been a frequent target of attacks by the Turkish government due to its publishing of controversial books by Armenian, Greek and Kurdish authors, and its emphasis on free speech, human rights and minority issues.

In 2011 Zarakolu was arrested and detained for seven months on terrorism charges for a pro-Kurdish speech he made in Istanbul at the political academy of the now-defunct Peace and Democracy Party. He was released in 2012, pending trial, and has been living in Sweden since 2013.

The red notice, which functions as an international arrest warrant, was issued by the Third Heavy Penal Court six years after Zarakolu’s release from prison. The court’s decision has been condemned by the International Publishers Association (IPA) as harassment.

Chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee Kristenn Einarsson said in a statement: ‘While the very difficult situation of Turkish publishers in Turkey is well publicised, it seems that this level of harassment is not enough for the Turkish government. The repeated abuse of international mechanisms like the Interpol red notice should be condemned by the international community.’

In a letter to the Turkish press, Zarakolu called on the public to campaign to annul the next court date, which is scheduled for 28 September in Istanbul. ‘It is obvious that my continued defence of human rights, minority rights, free speech, and peace as well as expressing my views and my articles have disturbed some. They can be disturbed. I will move forward,’ he said in the letter.

Zarakolu was the recipient of the NOVIB/PEN Free Expression Award in 2003, as well as the IPA’s Prix Voltaire prize, which awards courage in upholding the freedom to publish.

 

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Category: International news