Turkish writers on trial

Abstract

The outcome of the trial is uncertain, but it could mean putting Turkey's leading intellectuals behind bars for 15 years. The Writers Union of Turkey (WUT) was set up in 1974. Its members are among the best writers, poets, critics and journalists of the country. When the military junta took over on 12 September 1980 there was a blanket ban on the activities of all trade unions and professional associations (Index, 1/82, 6/83). Two years later, the president of WUT, the 68 year old satirist Aziz Nesin, and all the WUT executive members were charged with forming an ‘illegal organisation’ and ‘defaming the security forces’. The military authorities started proceedings on 4 January 1983. The trial still continues. All of them were sitting next to each other. It was like a hall of fame of contemporary Turkish literature. In the corner was the 68-year-old prominent satirist Aziz Nesin. Next to him some of Turkey's best-known writers, poets, critics, journalists, and columnists: Bekir Yildiz, Adnan Ozyalciner, Sukran Kurdakul, Demirtas Ceyhun, and others… This might have been a literary symposium or a seminar. But it was not. Aziz Nesin and his colleagues were attending the trial brought against their trade union. They were seated in the dock, and on the badges they were wearing was the word ‘defendant’. According to the military prosecutor, they had turned the Writers Union of Turkey (WUT) into an ‘illegal society’. He called for a ban on the organisation and prison sentences of eight to fifteen years for the accused.