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From ballerina to "terrorist"

The Norwegian Writers Association's Freedom of Expression Award has just been awarded to Aslı Erdogan – who, more than any other author, has become the symbol of the catastrophic development in today's Turkey. She refuses to bow despite persistent harassment, persecution and imprisonment, and still insists that the only solution for lasting peace is through reconciliation.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

Aslı Erdogan has the same surname as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but the similarities stop there. Her writing is large and controversial. From 1998 to 2000, she had her own column in the major Turkish newspaper Radikalwhere she addressed topics such as torture, imprisonment, abuse of women and the Kurdish struggle for rights. Following the coup attempt on 15 July 2016, Turkey arrested approximately 100 people, many of whom were writers, journalists and academics; Erdogan was one of them. She is considered a terrorist in her own home country, and was imprisoned for four months in the women's prison in Istanbul for writing in the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem ("Free agenda")She is currently released because there was not enough evidence to keep her imprisoned. She will receive her final judgment in May.

"Turkey is constantly lying in the face of foreign press."

No political activist. Outside of Turkey, she is considered one of the most important political activists of our time. But to me, she points out that she defines herself differently: “I'm not a political activist. I am only a writer. I work and write from my dark corner at home. That's my job. ”Despite how Erdogan defines herself, she recently received the prestigious Simone de Beauvoir Award. It has been distributed every year since 2008, and goes to individuals or groups fighting for human rights and gender equality. I ask her what it was like to receive the award: “This award means a lot to me. I remember when I was young and reading The other sex (1949) in Istanbul's parks. At that time, I would never dare to think that one day I would receive a prize in Simone de Beauvoir's name! ”

Freedom, loneliness and evil. Her breakthrough came with the novel I love Kent (1998). Here she writes about a young Turkish woman named Özgür ("freedom"), who writes about the city that has made her poor – both mentally and materially. This is Özgür's account of Rio de Janeiro; about being alone in a foreign city with new language, new culture, new people. The book is as much about the city's turmoil as it is about the main character. It has been translated into a number of languages.

Erdogan tells me that the text "Fascism Güncesi: Bugün" ("Fascism Day: Today") in Artic Sessizlik Bile Senin Degil is the main evidence against her in the trial. There, prosecutors claim that she writes about how Turkey's future will be. She herself says that she writes about what has been and what is to come, and that she did not think of Turkey when she wrote it.

- What other evidence exists against you?

"I used a quote by TS Eliot describing human evil in one of my novels. Prosecutors believe this quote is aimed at the evil of Turkish soldiers. In addition, they think I'm criticizing an operation that took place in June – in an article I wrote in May. "

Women, life, freedom!  "What is happening in Turkey today?" 

"Foreign journalists are arrested. The prosecution authorities believe that they have links to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). They also believe that Albert Camus and Baruch Spinoza are members of the PKK. Recently, a journalist was sentenced to 25 years in prison, without even being arrested. The journalist got the verdict in court and was arrested afterwards. There is no security in Turkey. If you walk on the streets and say you are against war, the police will arrest you. The first people who said 'No to war' are now in prison and must serve three to five years. ”

- How would you describe the situation of the Turkish women?

“President Erdogan says publicly that women and men are not equal. The language he uses about women is very condescending. He believes that we can forget to have the same rights as men. Women should have three children, caesarean section is forbidden – and they must not have an abortion. The law of abortion is one of his victories; You need your husband's permission to have an abortion. In public hospitals, it is completely impossible to get an abortion even if you have a permit – they give you a three-month medical period, and then it is already too late. But the vast majority of women are supporters of Erdogan. The hijab has become a symbol of freedom; They believe that Erdogan has freed them because they can go to school and work in the hijab. A woman without a hijab is seen as an empty house for sale or rent. I'm afraid to walk alone in Istanbul's streets because I'm being harassed. Still, some dare to raise their voices. Among other things, we have a famous image of a Turkish woman in tight skirts and high heels fighting the police. "

I am intrigued by her calmness when she tells me about the unreal injustice in my home country, and I ask if she can tell of her experiences in the women's prison: “Once every two months we had an open visit. The prisoners stood on one side and the visitors on the other. There was a lot of noise, and the guards went back and forth continuously. My mother came on the open visit. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party and has always been skeptical of the Kurds. She is a Turkish nationalist even though she is not Turkish herself. She looked frightened and hateful at all the members of the PKK guerrilla. The class distinction among the visitors was very clear. Especially the poverty of the majority. I said to her, 'Look, all these are Kurds.' She said, 'I know.' Half an hour later, the guards blew the whistle and shouted, 'You must go back to your places!' As an inexperienced prisoner, I immediately stood in line. But the Kurdish women were slow. My mother and I looked at them as they cried out, "Jin, Jian, Azadi!" ('Women, life, freedom!') These words filled the whole room. I saw in my mother's eyes that she was impressed. She wanted to be one of us. It is the only slogan I have shouted in my entire life. I did it every other month. "Jin, Jian, Azadi!" »

“President Erdogan says publicly that women and men are not equal. The language he uses about women is very condescending. "

The future of Turkey. - What can Europe do with the injustices in Turkey?

“Europe may demand that injustice be stopped. Turkey is constantly lying in the face of foreign press. They play a game. They release one to two people from prison and arrest a hundred others at the same time. Laws no longer exist. Anyone can be arrested at any time. We do not know when we will be released and whether we will be released at all. You are put in prison without knowing why. Don't take your attention away from Turkey. The Turkish people are afraid to raise their voice. All who protest against injustice end up in prison. "

 - How do you see Turkey's future?

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not optimistic, especially for the near future. We see that it can't continue like that, but also ask how it can change – and no one has an answer to that. First and foremost because the country is divided in two: the majority behind Erdogan and the opposition. There are many who oppose Erdogan, but now it is very difficult to bring together the social democrats, the left, the chemists and the Kurds. Just for one tweet, thousands of college students were jailed – and on the same night! Any public meeting or gathering may be prohibited at any time. "

Aslı Erdogan's history speaks on behalf of all people, but especially women in patriarchal cultures. In these MeToo times She is an example of women having a long way to go. Aslı Erdogan is not only the front figure for the women's struggle, but also for the fight against censorship, injustice and fascist ideologies and governance.

The theater next. Emel Heinreich – director, actor, dancer, writer and mask maker – tells that when Aslı Erdogan was imprisoned, the project "I read Aslı Erdogan" was spread around Europe. Hundreds of women read texts by Erdogan in French, Italian, Greek, German and so on. Heinreich was the initiator to start this forum in Vienna. She is now collaborating with Erdogan on theater production Not once the pig. About the concept for the play, Heinreich says: “I want to create a collage of the most important texts from all the stages of life of Aslı Erdogan. I want to create the text collage on stage and travel from city to city. In each city, there must be local players playing. In this way, the play is recreated and becomes distinctive to the individual city's culture, dialect and language. I have a choreography, but the actors have to fill it. "

The project came about while Erdogan was in prison. Heinreich says: “We didn't know when she would come out. And when she came out, we didn't know if she would be allowed to travel outside Turkey. Now the dream has come true. We have received a lot of attention. We work hard and hope to get out of the puppet – like a butterfly. ”

The interview is published in a longer version of the Norwegian Shakespeare magazine on 13 March.
Se www.shakespearetidsskrift.no

For more information:
www.slierdogan.com
www.cocondaschweigen.wordpress.com

Pinar Ciftci
Pinar Ciftci
Ciftci is a journalist and actor.

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