Prominent Authors Accused of Conspiracy Against Turkish Government

Posted on December 12, 2014

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues his campaign against freedom and the rights of authors to write what they wish. The government controlled newspaper Takvim has now accused prominent Turkish authors Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak of being part of a secret "international literature lobby" which is being used to undermine the Turkish government.

Erdogan, who is now in his third term as prime minister/dictator, is just full of crazy ideas. Last month he gave a speech saying that women are not equal to men and are only fit for motherhood. That didn't go down so well with women and with human rights activists. So why is Erdogan so angry with Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk? The Guardian reports that Pamuk's new novel Kafamda bir Tuhaflik (A Strangeness in My Mind), is all about the oppression of women in Turkey. Pamuk told a rival newspaper that "if we were to criticise Turkey from the outside, it would be about the place of women in society." Pamuk is standing up for women's rights and now he's being labeled a traitor who is a tool of the West.

Elif Shafak's crime seems to consist of being a woman who dares also to be a novelist. Her latest book, The Architect's Apprentice (Viking) was recently published in England. The book is set in the sultan's court in 16th-century Istanbul. Ms. Shafak seemed quite puzzled that that she was being accused of working for some kind of international literary cabal dedicated to destroying Turkey saying, "Whenever we say something critical, whenever I write a piece for a newspaper that is critical of Turkey's government or history, this happens. But this is the first time I've heard of an "international literature lobby."

Both Mr. Pamuk and Ms. Shafak are the subject of a vicious social media campaign in Turkey, which many believe is funded by the prime minister's office. Their photos are being posted on social media sites constantly with dark warnings of their ties to Western governments and the conspiracies they are supposedly involved with.

Jo Glanville, the director of English Pen, which fights for freedom of expression for writers around the globe, finds the smear campaign very disturbing. But she also doesn't find it surprising, given who is behind it. She told The Guardian that the campaign on social media and the stories in the party's newspaper are clearly attempts to destroy the writers' reputations and influence in their country. She explained, "It's a completely routine intimidation practice. The government will use its supporters in the media to discredit anyone who criticizes it. This time, it's by creating this mythical international literature lobby, which clearly has absolutely no grounds to it at all."

If there is a secret international cabal of writers powerful enough to bring down governments, we certainly have never heard of it. Perhaps Prime Minister Erdogan should turn his hand to writing conspiracy thrillers rather than trying to destroy the rights of women and writers.