Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk made a statement for journalist-writer Ahmet Altan, who was arrested a week after his release from prison after 1138 days of detention. Orhan Pamuk said “As long as the systematic injustices keep on and we remain silent we are ashamed of ourselves and our humanity, “.
“Ahmet Altan should be released, Turkey should return to normal and it deserves a fair legal system”
Orhan Pamuk stated that Ahmet Altan’s courage and personality was an obstacle for those who wanted to manage the society with fear. “Ahmet Altan should be released, Turkey should return to normal and it deserves a fair legal system”
Statement that he made to T24 is below;
Now, to tell the truth, in Turkey people had to be strong and brave as much as Ahmet Altan. Altan has been in jail for more than three years, already with unconvincing evidence for political reasons. After three years, the people who released him, arrested him once more when they saw such a courageous writer who was not afraid, intimidated, and continued to criticize the state and government with exemplary courage despite all the pressure. It is not acceptable that the law is arbitrarily violated and that the high court decisions are recklessly trampled. We are ashamed of ourselves and our humanity as the systematic injustices made to Altan continue and we silence against what is happening. Worse, we welcome and normalize lawlessness and arbitrariness.
“It is not Altan’s words that they cannot tolerate, but his courageous attitude and determination after his imprisonment.”
Lawlessness that becomes more bizarre as long as Altan kept inside, will continue to poison us all. There are those who campaigned against Altan on social media because he got out of jail, and those who persistently broadcast for a week for his re-imprisonment. It is not Altan’s words that they cannot tolerate, but his courageous attitude and determination after his imprisonment. Ahmet Altan’s courage and personality is an obstacle for those who want to manage the society with fear. That’s why they see it as the only way to go back to unlawfulness and to put him back in jail Ahmet Altan should be released, Turkey should return to normal and it deserves a fair legal system. “