14
October 2006
A Letter To Elif Shafak…*
By Abir Zaki
My Dear,
was it a farce comedy?
first you were prosecuted
"They" said, you insulted "Turkishness"
and that you denigrated the "Turkishness"
then you were acquitted
but still "they"
resist removing the notorious
"article 301" although they claim that
they are keen to interpret the so
called
"301"
positively…!
"They" call themselves a democratic country
using poisonous material from their
legislation
and prosecute acerbic voices,
outspoken, intellectuals,
and activist people like
you…?
Your attachment to the Islamic,
Jewish and Christian heterodox
mysticism
and your search whatever is under
the rubbles
will bring the mirth out
from the deepest clandestine
of "our" selves
indeed…
My dear,
you will not be the first,
nor the last
so,
I
bow my head
to your courage
to your multilingual, multicultural
view of humanity, and thus of life…
and hope that you continue to
stand up for the rights
of your PEN
and your humanly beliefs!
*Abir Zaki is
a Saudi author. She now lives
in Jordan.
*Elif Shafak
is a Turkish writer. She has published novels written in English as well as Turkish and French. She holds a Master of Science and a Ph.D in Gender and Women's Studies. Her first novel,
The Sufi was awarded the "Mevlana Prize" in 1998, which is given
to the best work in mystical literature in Turkey. Her Mirrors
of the City, brought her "Union of Turkish Writers' Prize" in 2000. 
Elif Shafak
has written two novels in English. For references to the Armenian Genocide in the second of these novels, The Bastard
of Istanbul, (The original title
means "The Father and The
Bastard"). She has also published reviews in The Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. Elif Shafak was charged
in Turkey with "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code which punishes anyone who publicly
denigrates Turkishness, or the Government of the Republic of Turkey, the judicial
institutions of the State, the
military or security organizations by imprisonment of between six months and two to three
years.
"Antonio Galletta" <tonigalletta@libero.it>
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2006 20:39:17 +0100
I fully agree with Mr. Naim Mahlab's comments.
However
a book I would recommend to
read on this subject is "Turkish nationalism and Armenian genocide"
by the Turkish historian Taner Akçam, Professor at the University
of Minnesota.
Antonio Galletta
Sat,
14 Oct 2006 20:07:29 -0400 (Eastern
Daylight Time)
From: "Naim S. Mahlab" <nsm@videotron.ca>
The position of the Turkish Government is totally unrealistic.
There were massacres of Armenians. I think it will be better if the Turks would adopt
Archbishop Tutu's ideas and form a 'truth and reconciliation' body that will deal with
this matter. The Germans admit the misdeeds of Hitler and his ilk, and are trying
to make amends,as if their crimes can ever be forgotten. At least they are trying.
Turkey should do the same.
Whether the Armenians were murdered by the tens of thousands, or by the hundreds of thousands,
the fact remains that these atrocities did take place.
For those who are interested, I recommend they read the book 'The forty days of Musa Dagh',
by Franz Werfel. It is probably out of print, but it is worth reading.
Man's inhumanity to man is something our species have had to deal with from the days
of Cain and Abel. I guess it will always be thus.
It is truly a pity that we seem to be unable to accept the diversity of people, and learn to
enjoy it rather than destroy it.
Naim S. Mahlab