'Banning things will not change anything'
Tuesday, October 4, 2005
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
By LEVON SEVUNTS
When Dora Sakayan first published her grandfather's diary in Montreal, she had no inkling that 10 years later it could land someone a half a world away in court, facing as much as two years in jail.
But then, she never dreamed that her grandfather's diary, an eyewitness account of the events in which several members of his family perished, along with 30,000 Greeks and Armenians at the hands of Turkish nationalist forces in Izmir in 1922, would ever be published in Turkey.
Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent activist and human-rights activist, dared to translate and publish Mrs. Sakayan's book, An Armenian Doctor in Turkey, Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. Now, he is charged with insulting the armed forces, Turkish identity and the memory of Kemal Ataturk, the iconic founder of the Turkish republic.
'I was worried and upset that he is suffering because of me, because of my book,' Mrs. Sakayan said during an interview over a cup of Turkish coffee and homemade sweets in her downtown apartment. 'But he calmed me down, saying that he sees this as his calling, to use the courthouse as a platform to speak out on human rights, the rights of Turkey's ethnic minorities and as an opportunity to fight historical revisionism.'
[...]
What irked Turkish authorities most about her book is that it deals with massacres perpetrated by some of the founders of the modern Turkish republic, not by young Turks, which was the case between 1915 and 1918, Mrs. Sakayan said.
In his defense statement during the first court hearing in the case on Sept. 21, Mr. Zarakolu said Turkey owed an apology to Mrs. Sakayan's grandfather, a Turkish citizen and a decorated military doctor, who served his country despite the Armenian massacres.
'Publishing this book can be counted as part of that apology.' Mr. Zarakolu told the court. 'The accusations that the book insults the Turkish national character or the Turkish army are totally unfair. All these events really happened. Banning things will not change anything.'
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
By LEVON SEVUNTS
When Dora Sakayan first published her grandfather's diary in Montreal, she had no inkling that 10 years later it could land someone a half a world away in court, facing as much as two years in jail.
But then, she never dreamed that her grandfather's diary, an eyewitness account of the events in which several members of his family perished, along with 30,000 Greeks and Armenians at the hands of Turkish nationalist forces in Izmir in 1922, would ever be published in Turkey.
Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent activist and human-rights activist, dared to translate and publish Mrs. Sakayan's book, An Armenian Doctor in Turkey, Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. Now, he is charged with insulting the armed forces, Turkish identity and the memory of Kemal Ataturk, the iconic founder of the Turkish republic.
'I was worried and upset that he is suffering because of me, because of my book,' Mrs. Sakayan said during an interview over a cup of Turkish coffee and homemade sweets in her downtown apartment. 'But he calmed me down, saying that he sees this as his calling, to use the courthouse as a platform to speak out on human rights, the rights of Turkey's ethnic minorities and as an opportunity to fight historical revisionism.'
[...]
What irked Turkish authorities most about her book is that it deals with massacres perpetrated by some of the founders of the modern Turkish republic, not by young Turks, which was the case between 1915 and 1918, Mrs. Sakayan said.
In his defense statement during the first court hearing in the case on Sept. 21, Mr. Zarakolu said Turkey owed an apology to Mrs. Sakayan's grandfather, a Turkish citizen and a decorated military doctor, who served his country despite the Armenian massacres.
'Publishing this book can be counted as part of that apology.' Mr. Zarakolu told the court. 'The accusations that the book insults the Turkish national character or the Turkish army are totally unfair. All these events really happened. Banning things will not change anything.'
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 9:07 AM
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