SIRNAK, Turkey – Ankara has banned nine Kurdish books written in the Turkish language and has begun removing them from bookstores. The owner of Avesta, the Kurdish company that published the books, says Turkey does not ban books written in Kurdish as this would only “legitimize them.”
“The books which are being banned in Turkey are not in Kurdish but in Turkish. I believe the government does not want to legitimize the Kurdish books by banning them,” publishing house owner Abdullah Keskin told Rudaw.
Around 30 publishing houses have been closed in Turkey since the state of emergency was imposed following the attempted coup in 2016.
The government has already banned 15-20 of Avesta’s books, almost all of them in the Turkish language, Keskin said.
The books were banned under Ankara’s counterterrorism law. They include a biography of Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani, a history of the Anfal campaign, and Yezidi religious books.
One of the banned books is titled “Genocide in Iraq,” contributed to by Middle East Watch. The book is about the plight of Kurds who were killed by the Iraqi regime in the 1980s.
Another is a book about the principles of the Yezidi faith.
The court letter demanding the ban has not been released. It is therefore not clear exactly what passages in these book led judges to categorize them as pro-terrorism.
Keskin says previous governments never banned books to the same extent the ruling AKP has.
“The books which are being banned in Turkey are not in Kurdish but in Turkish. I believe the government does not want to legitimize the Kurdish books by banning them,” publishing house owner Abdullah Keskin told Rudaw.
Around 30 publishing houses have been closed in Turkey since the state of emergency was imposed following the attempted coup in 2016.
The government has already banned 15-20 of Avesta’s books, almost all of them in the Turkish language, Keskin said.
The books were banned under Ankara’s counterterrorism law. They include a biography of Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani, a history of the Anfal campaign, and Yezidi religious books.
One of the banned books is titled “Genocide in Iraq,” contributed to by Middle East Watch. The book is about the plight of Kurds who were killed by the Iraqi regime in the 1980s.
Another is a book about the principles of the Yezidi faith.
The court letter demanding the ban has not been released. It is therefore not clear exactly what passages in these book led judges to categorize them as pro-terrorism.
Keskin says previous governments never banned books to the same extent the ruling AKP has.
Last updated 10.18 P.M.
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