{"id":6492,"date":"2019-09-16T13:47:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.internationaljournalists.org\/?p=6492"},"modified":"2019-09-16T13:47:20","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:47:20","slug":"jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/","title":{"rendered":"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Newly nominated for a Baillie Gifford literary prize, the political prisoner has written a novel from behind bars<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The novelist\u2019s series of essays, smuggled out of jail among notes to his lawyers, was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2019\/mar\/13\/i-will-never-see-world-again-ahmet-altan-review\">lauded by critics<\/a>&nbsp;as an instant classic when it was published in Britain in spring this year, and last week it was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2019\/sep\/12\/jailed-turkish-novelist-ahmet-altan-baillie-gifford-prize-longlist-i-will-never-see-the-world-agai\">longlisted for the \u00a350,000 Baillie Gifford nonfiction prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can imprison me but you cannot keep me here,\u201d writes Ahmet Altan at the end of his acclaimed book&nbsp;<em>I Will Never See the World Again<\/em>. \u201cBecause, like all writers, I have magic. I can pass through your walls with ease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now Altan, who has been in jail for three years on charges arising from the failed Turkish coup attempt of July 2016, has expressed his defiance through the written word once again, writing another book from his shared cell in the high-security Silivri prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1838-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6498 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have written a new novel,\u201d he told the&nbsp;<em>Observer<\/em>&nbsp;via messages sent in and out of his prison cell.&nbsp;Like&nbsp;<em>I Will Never See the World Again<\/em>, the new title,&nbsp;<em>Lady Life<\/em>, is expected to be published in English first. A comedy set in today\u2019s Istanbul against a background of repression and political turmoil, its protagonist is a woman called Hayat, a word that means \u201clife\u201d in Turkish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt tells the story of someone who doesn\u2019t take life too seriously,\u201d said Altan. \u201cShe turned out to be a character who amuses me greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Altan\u2019s friend Yasemin \u00c7ongar, who will translate the book into English, the novel is very funny. But always in the background is a broken society with an ailing economy, full of the \u201cnew poor\u201d, impoverished by a widespread and seemingly indiscriminate purge of so-called dissidents. \u201cThey are people whose lives have been interrupted, almost destroyed,\u201d said Congar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the aftermath of the attempt to oust the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, more than 100,000 people \u2013 civil servants, teachers, judges, police officers, soldiers, journalists and academics \u2013 lost their jobs, most of them suspected of links to Fethullah G\u00fclen, a Turkish Islamic scholar exiled in the US who is accused by the authorities of masterminding the coup attempt. More than&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2019\/aug\/06\/turkish-government-destroys-more-than-300000-books\">300,000 books related<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 and unrelated \u2013 to G\u00fclen were destroyed; and the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/97aa22f4-d563-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77\">&nbsp;economy has slumped<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Altan, 69, a combative, provocative and outspoken opponent of the Erdo\u011fan regime, was jailed in September 2016 pending trial, alongside his brother Mehmet, 66, a writer, journalist and academic, and a former MP and journalist Nazli Ilicak, 75, for allegedly sending \u201csubliminal messages\u201d on television in support of the coup. In February 2018, with Ilicak, Altan was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/feb\/16\/turkey-sentences-six-journalists-life-imprisonment-failed-coup\">for attempting to overthrow the government<\/a>. Mehmet was freed but lost his job as an economics professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sentence was greeted with outrage by writers worldwide, though&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2018\/feb\/28\/nobel-laureates-president-erdogan-turkey-free-writers\">an appeal to Erdo\u011fan<\/a>&nbsp;for Ahmet Altan\u2019s release by 38 Nobel laureates \u2013 including VS Naipaul, JM Coetzee and Kazuo Ishiguro \u2013 fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July the court of cassation, Turkey\u2019s top appeals court, quashed the convictions of Altan and Ilicak but ruled that they should stay in prison and face the charge of \u201cdeliberately and willingly helping\u201d the G\u00fclen movement, which the regime deems to be a terrorist organisation. Altan and Ilicak deny the charges. The trial will begin on 8 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Philippe Sands, the British\/French human rights lawyer and writer who has taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on the grounds that he is being held unlawfully, told the&nbsp;<em>Observer<\/em>&nbsp;he was \u201chorrified, frankly, at the failure of Britain\u201d to press for his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need the government to be bellyaching loudly about this. Boris Johnson must publicly call on Erdo\u011fan to free Ahmet,\u201d said Sands, who wrote the preface to&nbsp;<em>I Will Never See the World Again<\/em>. \u201cAll they ever say is that they are working behind the scenes, but the only thing they care about is trade. It\u2019s an outrage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sands, who is president of English PEN, which defends and promotes writers, awaits judgment from Strasbourg but has already successfully argued the case that Mehmet was imprisoned illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAhmet is such a remarkable individual, a man of real substance, a man of strength. And after all he has been through he remains unbowed and unbroken,\u201d said Sands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the meantime Altan remains in the cell he shares with two other inmates in Silivri, a two-hour drive west of Istanbul on the Sea of Marmara. He writes while sitting on a plastic chair at a small plastic table, on paper bought from the prison commissary. His father \u00c7etin Altan, a prominent leftwing journalist, writer and MP, also published a novel (<em>A Handful of Sky<\/em>, 1974) while serving time as a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahmet\u2019s wife, Gulnur, friends such as \u00c7ongar and supporters hope he will be released after the October trial. \u201cHe has been in jail too long already,\u201d said \u00c7ongar. But Altan is not holding his breath. \u201cBecause the court of cassation overturned the verdict, there is now a chance that I will see the world again,\u201d he told the&nbsp;<em>Observer<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut when? Nobody knows. The court\u2019s asking for my sentencing one way or another shows that they want to keep me behind bars as long as possible. It is likely that I will be convicted again but I don\u2019t know what the sentence will be. Since there is no [rule of] law, it\u2019s impossible to make a prediction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He is not quite cut off from the world, however, with visits from his family permitted. \u201cI can see my wife, my kids and siblings once a week for an hour with a glass window between us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to talk on the phone but we can see each other. Aside from my family, three of my friends whose names I gave to the prison administration can visit me. In the past I was allowed to see my lawyers for only an hour a week but this limitation has been lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And after a bleak first few months without books, he is allowed 10 in his cell. \u201cI can borrow from the prison library, and my lawyers can bring books from the outside,\u201d he said. Altan remains stoical and defiant, surviving his detention by living largely in his imagination. \u201cEach morning I wake up somewhere else,\u201d he said. \u201cStill I\u2019m able to daydream. This really helps me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If and when he is released, he faces further, equally Kafkaesque, legal battles. There is an outstanding case against him dating from his editorship from 2007 to 2012 of the liberal daily newspaper&nbsp;<em>Taraf<\/em>, closed down in the state of emergency after the failed coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With \u00c7ongar, his former assistant editor, he is accused of obtaining, and then destroying, a government document about an alleged secret plan to declare war on Greece. \u201cWe never even saw the document,\u201d \u00c7ongar told the&nbsp;<em>Observer<\/em>. But the charge potentially carries a jail sentence of more than 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congar, 52, who translated<em>&nbsp;I Will Never See the World Again<\/em>, is now general director of P24, a not-for-profit platform for independent journalism in Istanbul, which she co-founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are 140 journalists in prison in Turkey, according to P24, most of whom were charged in the crackdown after the failed coup. Ranked 157 out of 180 countries in the 2018 world press freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/turkey\">Turkey<\/a>&nbsp;jails more journalists than any other country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Philippe Sands is dedicating a performance of the stage version of his award-winning book East West Street in London next month to Ahmet Altan and all other writers jailed in Turkey. The event,&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.southbankcentre.co.uk\/whats-on\/138196-east-west-street-song-good-and-evil-2019\"><em>part of the London literature festival<\/em><\/a><em>, is at Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, on 21 October.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The longlist for the Baillie Gifford prize 2019 includes&nbsp;<em>On Chapel Sands<\/em>&nbsp;by the&nbsp;<em>Observer<\/em>\u2019s art critic Laura Cumming, and&nbsp;<em>The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth<\/em>&nbsp;by William Feaver, the&nbsp;<em>Observer<\/em>\u2019s former chief art critic. Amelia Gentleman is nominated for the&nbsp;<em>Guardian<\/em>\u2019s story of the Windrush scandal,&nbsp;<em>Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Resource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/sep\/15\/ahmet-altan-nominated-literary-prize-new-novel-written-in-jail\">thequardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Newly nominated for a Baillie Gifford literary prize, the political prisoner has written a novel from behind bars The novelist\u2019s series of essays, smuggled out of jail among notes to his lawyers, was&nbsp;lauded by critics&nbsp;as an instant classic when it was published in Britain in spring this year, and last week it was&nbsp;longlisted for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":6340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jf_save_progress":"","_jf_limit_responses":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4652,1],"tags":[2987,4220,3456,4221,4222],"class_list":["post-6492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-imprisoned-journalists-en","category-uncategorized","tag-ahmet-altan-en-2","tag-altan-en","tag-jailed-journalists-en","tag-the-quardian-en","tag-yasemin-congar-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned - International Journalists<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"tr_TR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned - International Journalists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Newly nominated for a Baillie Gifford literary prize, the political prisoner has written a novel from behind bars The novelist\u2019s series of essays, smuggled out of jail among notes to his lawyers, was&nbsp;lauded by critics&nbsp;as an instant classic when it was published in Britain in spring this year, and last week it was&nbsp;longlisted for the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"International Journalists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijaev.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-16T11:47:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"422\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@journalists_tr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@journalists_tr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Yazan:\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Tahmini okuma s\u00fcresi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 dakika\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1007acacd3e1b8fc5067b5fd3b4c86c3\"},\"headline\":\"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-16T11:47:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1384,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ahmet altan\",\"Altan\",\"Jailed journalists\",\"The quardian\",\"yasemin \u00e7ongar\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Imprisoned Journalists\",\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"tr\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned - International Journalists\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-16T11:47:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"tr\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"tr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":422},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Anasayfa\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/\",\"name\":\"International Journalists\",\"description\":\"International Journalists\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"tr\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"International Journalists Association e.V.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"tr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/LOGO-scaled.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/LOGO-scaled.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"International Journalists Association e.V.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ijaev.org\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/journalists_tr\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/journalists_EN\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/journalists_de\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/international_journalists\\\/?hl=de\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1007acacd3e1b8fc5067b5fd3b4c86c3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"tr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fa0d25691a3360deb6cc936e5973f6121b8ac52261979241132cefbbdbc80e71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fa0d25691a3360deb6cc936e5973f6121b8ac52261979241132cefbbdbc80e71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fa0d25691a3360deb6cc936e5973f6121b8ac52261979241132cefbbdbc80e71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/internationaljournalists\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/internationaljournalists.org\\\/tr\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned - International Journalists","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/","og_locale":"tr_TR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned - International Journalists","og_description":"Newly nominated for a Baillie Gifford literary prize, the political prisoner has written a novel from behind bars The novelist\u2019s series of essays, smuggled out of jail among notes to his lawyers, was&nbsp;lauded by critics&nbsp;as an instant classic when it was published in Britain in spring this year, and last week it was&nbsp;longlisted for the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/","og_site_name":"International Journalists","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijaev.org","article_published_time":"2019-09-16T11:47:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":422,"url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@journalists_tr","twitter_site":"@journalists_tr","twitter_misc":{"Yazan:":"admin","Tahmini okuma s\u00fcresi":"7 dakika"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#\/schema\/person\/1007acacd3e1b8fc5067b5fd3b4c86c3"},"headline":"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned","datePublished":"2019-09-16T11:47:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/"},"wordCount":1384,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg","keywords":["ahmet altan","Altan","Jailed journalists","The quardian","yasemin \u00e7ongar"],"articleSection":["Imprisoned Journalists","Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"tr","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/","url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/","name":"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned - International Journalists","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-16T11:47:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"tr","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"tr","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahmet-altan-2-e1546882612723.jpg","width":750,"height":422},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/jailed-turkish-writer-ahmet-altan-my-words-cannot-be-imprisoned\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Anasayfa","item":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/","name":"International Journalists","description":"International Journalists","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"tr"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#organization","name":"International Journalists Association e.V.","url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"tr","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LOGO-scaled.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LOGO-scaled.png","width":2560,"height":1440,"caption":"International Journalists Association e.V."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijaev.org","https:\/\/x.com\/journalists_tr","https:\/\/x.com\/journalists_EN","https:\/\/x.com\/journalists_de","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/international_journalists\/?hl=de"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/#\/schema\/person\/1007acacd3e1b8fc5067b5fd3b4c86c3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"tr","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa0d25691a3360deb6cc936e5973f6121b8ac52261979241132cefbbdbc80e71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa0d25691a3360deb6cc936e5973f6121b8ac52261979241132cefbbdbc80e71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa0d25691a3360deb6cc936e5973f6121b8ac52261979241132cefbbdbc80e71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/internationaljournalists"],"url":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationaljournalists.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}