Oct 30, 2008
İstanbul -- The court sentenced publisher Ali Rıza Vural of Doz Publishing to “doing propaganda work for the Kurdish Workers Party” by publishing Hasan Bildirici’s novel that used the words “Kurd” and “Kurdish People.”
Ali Rıza Vural, manager in charge of Doz Publishing, was fined 20.000 YTL (about 10.000 euro) for publishing Hasan Bilici’s novel titled “Dönüşü Olmayan Yol” (The Road of No Return). He was accused of “doing propaganda work for the Kurdish Workers Organization” (PKK).
The 10th High Criminal Court decided in the verdict hearing on October 14, 2008 that the novel was encouraging joining the PKK by questioning its understanding of the concepts "mountain" and "weapon".
Since the writer himself, Bildirici, was not in the country, the court instead tried the manager in charge, Vural, to comply with the Press Law. The court converted the sentence of one thousand days to a fine. Publisher’s lawyer Ruşan Arslan appealed the verdict on October 16.
Doz Publishing stated in the announcement it held that their intention was not to do propaganda work, but to question what the PKK understands out of the concepts “mountain” and weapon”; this was also stated by the Turkish Writers Union (TYS) in its expert report.
Another lawsuit was filed against the same novel on October 26, 2007, just after it was published. The court had construed the frequent appearance of the words “Kurd” and “Kurdistan” (the land of Kurds) in the novel as evidence for the crime. According to the publisher, this was the reason for the accusation of doing propaganda work for the PKK.
Disagreeing with President Abdullah Gül’s comments during his interview with Der Spiegel that the Kurds were discriminated in the past, but the situation was different now since their rights were more established, Doz Publishing described the situation in the following terms:
“We do not deny the more democratic atmosphere felt during the AKP administration. But when we look at the developments around us, we cannot ignore the fact that the problem is still referred to the police, the gendarmerie, the military, the prosecutor and the courts. The books and the works in this field eventually result in heavy fines and prison sentences. The sentence Ali Rıza Vural received is a clear example of how the system works.”
Publisher Vural was also tried for Mesut Barzani’s two volume book titled “Barzani ve Kürt Ulusal Özgürlük Hareketi” (Barzani and the Kurdish National Liberation Movement). He was eventually acquitted of the crime of “insulting and ridiculing the Republic through the mass media in this case on March 27. (EÖ/TB)