Turkish publisher Ragıp Zarakolu was awarded the Hagop
Meghapart Lifetime Honorary Medal by the Armenian National Library, becoming
the first Turk to win the honour. The owner of the Belge publishing house was
presented his award at a ceremony held in the capital Yerevan on 15 February
2011. Ragıp Zarakolu said the award had great moral significance for him as he
was the first Turk to take home the honour, although he said he believed more
Turks would soon also win the honour. “There are many intellectuals like me in
Turkey who do not fear expressing the pains in the country and take human
rights as the basic criteria. Moreover, these people do not hesitate to use the
word ‘genocide,’” he said, adding “Receiving this award is an honour for me. I
might be the first, but I believe more Turkish intellectuals will win this
medal”.
Says Jens Bammel, IPA Secretary General: “IPA
congratulates publisher Ragıp Zarakolu on receiving this prestigious award.
Once again we rise in deep respect for this publisher, to celebrate his courage
and humanity, his love for different cultures and quest for truth and
reconciliation. This Armenian National Award shows that, despite difficulties,
Armenians and Turks can work together.
The opening of Armenia, which the award underlines, is a
very promising sign for Yerevan World Book Capital 2012. As the initiator of
the World Book Capital initiative, and as with all World Book Capitals since
2001, IPA will strive to contribute to the success of Yerevan, World Book
Capital 2012”.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
More about Ragıp Zarakolu, freedom to publish in Turkey
and Armenia:
Ragıp Zarakolu is a Turkish publisher born in 1948. Since
starting his publishing house Belge with his wife Ayse Nur in 1977, he has been
subjected to harassment from the Turkish authorities. Ragıp Zarakolu refused to
abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving “for an attitude of
respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey”.
Over the years, the charges brought by the Turkish authorities against
Ragıp Zarakolu and his wife resulted in
imprisonment, confiscation and destruction of books, and the imposition of heavy
fines, endangering the survival of the Belge publishing house.
Ragıp Zarakolu was condemned for the crime of « insulting
Turkishness » under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code on in June 2008 for
having published a book on the Armenian genocide entitled The Truth will set us
free. Armenians and Turks reconciled by George Jerjian. This was the first
conviction since the 30 April 2008 amendment to Article 301.
Zarakolu, who is also the Chairman of Freedom to publish
committee of the Turkish Publishers Association (TPA), is the holder of many
national and international awards for freedom of expression. He has also
received an award from the Sarajevo-based International Association of Genocide
Scholars, or IAGS, and freedom of expression awards from the Norwegian Writers’
Union and the Turkish Journalists’ Association.
Turkey has come a long way, freedom of expression wise
since the 1990s, but much progress remains to be done: there are around 70
cases of writers and publishers on trial currently in Turkey, the majority on
charges of defamation or insult to various Turkish institutions, or on charges
related to commentary on the Kurdish or Armenian issues.
In Armenia, although freedom to publish is overall
respected, there are other significant freedom of expression issues that need
to be worked on.
For more, please see the joint IPA-PEN
International-Index on Censorship UPR reports on Armenia and Turkey:
Arm.:
www.internationalpublishers.org/images/stories/MembersOnly/FTPC/UPR/armenia_upr%208th%20session.pdf
Tur.:
www.internationalpublishers.org/images/stories/MembersOnly/FTPC/UPR/turkey%20upr%20_3_.pdf
More about World Book Capital (WBC), Ljubljana WBC 2010,
Buenos Aires WBC 2011 and Yerevan WBC 2012:
Every year, at the initiative of IPA, the International Booksellers
Federation (IBF), the International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA), UNESCO, and IPA designate a city as World Book Capital for
the 12 months between two celebrations of World Book and Copyright Day (23
April). This initiative is a collaborative effort between the representatives
of the main stakeholders in the book sector and the cities which have committed
themselves to promote books and reading.
Yerevan was named as the “World Book Capital 2012” at the
conclusion of the selection committee meeting, which was held at UNESCO’s Paris
headquarters in July 2010. The city of Yerevan was selected “for the quality
and the variety of its detailed, realistic, grass-roots programme, focusing on
universal issues, and linking all the aspects and actors of the book chain”.
The current World Book Capital is Ljubljana, Slovenia
(en.ljubljanasvetovnaprestolnicaknjige.si/home). Buenos Aires, Argentina, will
be World Book Capital 2011 starting on 23 April this year. On 25 April 2011, on
the occasion of the Buenos Aires Book Fair (20 April – 9 May), IPA will award
its 2011 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize to a courageous publisher. See:
www.capitaldellibro2011.gob.ar
More about IPA:
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is the global
non-governmental organisation representing all aspects of book and journal
publishing worldwide. Established in 1896, IPA's mission is to promote and
protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing as a force for
cultural and political advancement worldwide. IPA is an industry association
with a human rights mandate. IPA currently has 65 member associations in 53
countries.
For further information, please contact:
Jens Bammel
Secretary General or
Alexis Krikorian
Director, Freedom to Publish
International Publishers Association
3, avenue de Miremont
CH - 1206 Geneva
Tel: +41 22 704 1820
Fax: +41 22 704 1821
bammel@internationalpublishers.org
krikorian@internationalpublishers.org
http://www.info-turk.be/390.htm#Lifetime
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