Police confiscate books by Kurdish publishing house during book fair in southeastern Diyarbakır

Turkish police at southeastern Diyarbakır province's annual book fair confiscated four books by Aram Publishing, including a Kurdish book on the Syrian civil war and Nelson Mandela's autobiography as part of an ongoing, undisclosed investigation.

Wednesday December 04 2024 06:14 pm

Turkish police seize copies of Hatip Dicle's book Dildarê Serkeftinê.

Duvar English

Turkish police on Dec. 4 confiscated books at a book fair organized in southeastern Diyarbakır province, including the Kurdish book Dildarê Serkeftinê (The Afrin Resistance Diary) which chronicles the civil war in Syria's Afrin province.

Since the fair began, police have confiscated four books from Aram Publishing House. On October 2, authorities seized Dildarê Serkeftinê by author Hatip Dicle.

During a raid the day before, they confiscated Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and a book compiling letters of Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to reporting by the Mesopotamia News Agency (MA).

Police cited a prosecutor’s order to justify their action and searched the publishing house's booth.

Aram Publishing owner Hakkı Boltan criticized the confiscations and called for readers to support the publishing house.

Boltan claimed police targeted their booth to intimidate staff and readers, saying, “On Monday, they confiscated a non-banned book without showing any notice, detained our colleagues, and tried to deter readers from approaching our stand.”

He condemned the raids, emphasizing that the best response to such pressure was to purchase and read more books.

“Confiscating Mandela’s autobiography is absurd,” Boltan said. “Mandela symbolizes democracy and has been honored worldwide. Seizing his book in Turkey reveals their opposition to Mandela’s values, democracy, and humanity.”

Boltan added that the goal was not merely banning books but discouraging people from reading them. He said the raids only increased readers' enthusiasm, especially among youth, women, and children.

Other publishers at the fair also criticized the police actions, expressing solidarity with Aram Publishing House.