Yavuz Ekinci terrorist propaganda charges in Turkey are ‘bogus’, says PEN International

PEN International has called on Turkish authorities to drop “bogus” charges against the writer Yavuz Ekinci.

Ekinci, whose work focuses on the plight of Kurdish people in Turkey, has been charged with creating terrorist propaganda in relation to his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). He was charged under Article 7 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law No 3713, which is “routinely used to silence independent voices”, said PEN International on Monday. The charge carries up to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

“When a writer’s voice is silenced, we are all silenced. Yavuz Ekinci’s words deserve to be heard – freely and without fear – because our collective future rests on the courage of one, of all, to tell uncomfortable truths,” said PEN International president Burhan Sonmez.

The first hearing in the case will take place at the 23rd high criminal court in Istanbul on 18 September. This is one of two cases related to Ekinci’s Dream Divided; a separate case saw an Istanbul court ban the publication, distribution and sale of the book in March 2023, and copies were confiscated. That case is pending before Turkey’s constitutional court.

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Dream Divided – published in 2014 and not yet available in English – tells the story of a Kurdish man who flees Turkey on political grounds and struggles to make a new life in Germany. When his father falls ill, the protagonist sets out to find his brother, who became a guerrilla in the Qandil mountains, where the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) are based. “The book ends with a call for unity and peace,” said PEN International.

Ekinci was born in 1979 in Batman, Turkey. Alongside his writing, he works as a teacher and editor of Kurdish literature.

In March 2022, Ekinci was found guilty on terrorist propaganda charges and given a suspended sentence of one year, six months and 22 days in prison. He was charged over eight tweets published on his X account, “none of which promoted or incited violence”, according to PEN International, which has called on Turkish authorities to overturn the conviction. The case is now before the court of cassation.

The cases against Ekinci are part of a “mounting crackdown” on books and social media content in Turkey, said PEN International, which urged authorities to stop “censoring and persecuting writers for the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression”.

“Governments around the world should uphold the right to freedom of thought and opinion and encourage access to diverse literature,” it added.