Turkish writer Elif Shafak speaks against Turkish censorship
Turkish writers and academics are being persecuted for their work at an alarming rate, thanks to the current turmoil in the country. One writer, Elif Shafak, is speaking out against… Read more »
1300-year-old book confiscated by security
Here’s a headline sure to grab your interest during the consistently exhausting and defeating 24/7 news cycle of hell: a 1,300-year-old gold-gilded book was seized by security in an act… Read more »
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wins re-election in Turkey, further endangering writers and journalists throughout the country
Four days ago, Muharram Ince conceded Turkey’s presidential election to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. While Erdoğan’s AKP (Justice and Development Party) lost some ground in parliament, Erdoğan himself outperformed many expectations,… Read more »
That Turkish garbage library just got a donation from the EU
Last month, we wrote about a new library in Ankara, Turkey, opened by the city’s garbage collectors with the discarded books they found while on their routes. Originally meant as a… Read more »
Aslı Erdoğan has been freed by Turkey, which remains a terrible country for writers
The government of Turkey has lifted a travel ban imposed on novelist, journalist, and human rights activist Aslı Erdoğan. We’ve covered Erdoğan (no relation Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) since 2016’s failed coup. The author was initially arrested in an August… Read more »
Turkish novelist Ahmet Altan, held incommunicado on charges of “giving subliminal messages in favor of a coup on television,” manages to publish an essay on the eve of his trial
Over the past few years, we’ve had all too much occasion to write about Turkey’s ongoing crackdown against journalists, publishers, and writers of all kinds, which has spiked in intensity since 2016’s… Read more »
Turkish crackdown continues, with two magazine editors jailed for perceived insults
The situation in Turkey continues to deteriorate. In the last few weeks, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime has sentenced a Minister of Parliament to twenty-five years in prison for divulging “state… Read more »
In Turkey, a suspected terrorist continues to operate a bookstore, as hundreds of journalists, authors, and publishers are rounded up
Since the failed coup against him in September 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken dramatic measures to consolidate his power: hunting down members of the opposition, calling for changes to… Read more »
Turkish magazine shuttered over photo of anti-Erdoğan grafitti
Even the mildest story about cats won’t escape the censors in Turkey right now. For months, we’ve been covering President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ever-expanding crackdown on Turkish journalists and publishers, instigated in response to the attempted coup last summer. The… Read more »
Turkish police confiscate 2,170 books from Belge Publishing House
This past Saturday, Turkish authorities launched a nighttime raid on the offices of Belge Yayinlari in Istanbul. According to a report in the Armenian Mirror-Spectator and other outlets, officers confiscated more than 2,000… Read more »