Da Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations
Reset-DoC è lieta di sostenere e ripubblicare la seguente lettera aperta in supporto dei fratelli Altan e di altri giornalisti e scrittori imprigionati dalle autorità turche. Firmata da accademici, autori e intellettuali, tra cui Elena Ferrante, il premio Nobel per la letteratura Orhan Pamuk e il famoso economista Daron Acemoglu, l’appello condanna con forza la “vendetta” che il governo turco sta attuando contro i maggiori intellettuali e scrittori turchi perché non condividono il loro punto di vista.
Noi sottoscritti facciamo appello ai democratici di tutto il mondo e a tutti coloro che hanno a cuore il futuro della Turchia e della regione sulla quale esercita un ruolo di primo piano, perché protestino contro la vendetta che il governo sta portando avanti contro i suoi più brillanti pensatori e scrittori qualora non condividano il suo punto di vista.
L’antefatto di questa lettera è il tentativo di colpo di stato avvento il 15 luglio 2015, che fortunatamente non è riuscito ed è stato rapidamente represso. Se lo stesso popolo turco non avesse resistito a quest’assalto alle istituzioni, ne sarebbero seguiti anni di miseria.
In seguito a questo colpo di stato, è comprensibile che il governo abbia imposto uno stato temporaneo di emergenza. Tuttavia, il fallito colpo di stato non dovrebbe essere il pretesto per una caccia alle streghe nello stile di McCarthy, né lo stato di emergenza dovrebbe essere applicato con scarso riguardo per i diritti fondamentali, per le norme in materia di prove, o persino per il senso comune.
Noi, come scrittori, universitari e difensori della libertà di espressione siamo particolarmente turbati nel vedere colleghi che conosciamo e rispettiamo essere imprigionati in base alle misure di emergenza. Giornalisti come Sahin Alpay, Nazli Ilicak o la scrittrice Asli Erdogan sono stati aperti difensori della democrazia, oppositori del militarismo e della tirannia in qualunque sua forma.
Siamo particolarmente costernati nell’apprendere che il prominente romanziere Ahmet Altan, e suo fratello Mehmet Altan, scrittore e insigne professore di economia, sono stati arrestati in un raid avvenuto all’alba del 10 settembre 2016. Entrambi sono accusati di avere in qualche modo lanciato messaggi subliminali per chiamare a raccolta i sostenitori del colpo di stato, nel corso di uno show televisivo trasmesso il 14 luglio, la sera prima del tentato colpo stesso.
Ahmet Altan è uno degli scrittori più importanti della Turchia; i suoi romanzi sono stati pubblicati in traduzione e vendono milioni di copie. Per cinque anni è stato, inoltre, caporedattore del quotidiano liberale Taraf. Il giornale ha sempre sostenuto il diritto di sapere dei lettori. Ahmet Altan è stato più volte processato durante la sua carriera – nel 1990 per aver cercato di far sì che i lettori turchi entrassero in empatia con i curdi del paese; più recentemente, per aver tentato di spingere il primo ministro a scusarsi pubblicamente per il massacro di Roboski del 2011 in cui sono stati bombardati 34 villaggi. Il 2 settembre si è presentato in tribunale, imputato di aver rivelato segreti di stato, sulla base di un atto d’accusa che era in gran parte un copia e incolla di casi completamente diversi.
Mehmet Altan è professore presso l’Università di Istanbul, editorialista e autore di numerosi libri in cui ha sostenuto la necessità di ricostruire l’identità della Turchia non sulla razza o sulla religione, ma sul rispetto dei diritti umani. Come suo fratello e altri ora in carcere non è colpevole di aver sostenuto il colpo di stato, ma di aver portato avanti una critica molto efficace al governo attuale, i cui progressi iniziali nell’ampiamento della democrazia si sono ormai inceppati e stanno retrocedendo.
Chiediamo al governo turco di cessare la sua persecuzione di scrittori di primo piano e di accelerare il rilascio di Ahmet e Mehmet Altan, così come dei tanti loro colleghi ingiustamente accusati.
Héctor Abad, Writer.
Daron Acemoğlu, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dogan Akhanli, Writer, PEN Germany.
Meena Alexander, Poet, writer ; Distinguished Professor of English, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center in the PhD program in English.
Monica Ali, Writer.
Professor Rosental Calmon Alves, Knight Chair in Journalism & UNESCO Chair in Communication ; Director, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, University of Texas at Austin.
Gillian Anderson, Film, television, theatre actress.
Kwame Anthony Appiah, Philosopher, cultural theorist and novelist.
Chloe Aridjis, Writer, Mexico / United Kingdom.
Ingeborg Arlt, Writer, PEN Germany.
John Ashbery, Poet.
Margaret Atwood, Writer.
Michael Augustin, Poet, translator, Germany.
Thomas Bachmann, Author.
Çiğdem Balım, Senior lecturer, Indiana University.
Etienne Balibar, Philosopher ; Professor Emeritus, University of Paris-Ouest ; Anniversary Chair in Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University, London.
Hans Jürgen Balmes, Editor, S. Fischer Verlage.
Russell Banks, Writer.
Peter Barbey, Publisher, The Village Voice.
Julian Barnes, Writer.
Robert Barnett, Senior Research Fellow and Director, Modern Tibetan Studies, Columbia University.
Jürgen Baurmann, Professor Emeritus, University of Wuppertal, Germany.
John Berger, Writer.
Sara Bershtel, Publisher, Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt.
Johann Bihr, Head of the Eastern Europe & Central Asia desk, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Clifford Bob, Raymond J. Kelley Endowed Chair in International Relations, Duquesne University.
Eric Bogosian, Actor, playwright, novelist and historian.
Mirko Bonné, Writer.
Giancarlo Bosetti, Director of Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations.
Vera Botterbusch, Filmmaker, photographer, writer.
Patrick Boucheron, Professor, History, Collège de France.
Olivier Bouquet, Professor, History, University of Paris VII.
Hamit Bozarslan, Professor, History, EHESS.
Warren Breckman, Rose Family Endowed Term Chair, Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania.
Breyten Breytenbach, Writer, South Africa / France.
Daphné Breytenbach, Independent journalist, France.
Lisette Buchholz, Publisher, persona verlag.
A.S. Byatt (Dame Susan Duffy), Novelist, poet, Booker Prize winner.
Jamie Byng, Publisher, Canongate Books.
Simon Callow, Actor, musician, writer and theatre director.
Peter Carey, Writer.
Nick Cave, Musician, author, screenwriter.
Baltasar Cevc, Lawyer, Erlangen, Germany.
Ying Chan, Journalist, Winner of CPJ International Press Freedom Award.
Roger Chartier, Professor, History, Collège de France.
Frances Dal Chele, Photographer.
Noam Chomsky, Linguist ; Institute Professor of Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Claus Clausen, Publisher, Tiderne Skifter, Denmark.
Nathalie Clayer, Professor, History, EHESS.
Jonathan Coe, Novelist.
JM Coetzee, Nobel Laureate in Literature.
Professor Dominique Custos, Centre for Research on Fundamental Rights and the Evolution of Law (CRDFED), University of Caen, France.
Burak Çopur, Political Scientist, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
Sophie Dahl, Writer.
Christophe Deloire, Secretary-General, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Ariel Dorfman, Novelist, playwright ; Walter Hines Page Research Professor Emeritus of Literature, Duke University.
Costas Douzinas, Professor of Law, University of London.
Tanja Dückers, Writer.
Horst Eckert, Writer.
Scott Ellsworth, Author ; lecturer, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan.
Jean Louis Fabiani, Professor, Humanities, EHESS.
Catherine Farin, Editor, S. Fischer Verlage.
Rita Felski, Professor of literature, University of Virginia and University of Southern Denmark.
Elena Ferrante, Writer.
Sandro Ferri, Publisher, edizioni e/o, Europa editions.
Sascha Feuchert, Vice-President and Writers-in-Prison-Commissioner of PEN Germany ; Professor of Literature, University of Giessen.
Stephen Frears, Film director.
Maureen Freely, Writer ; President of English PEN.
Uwe Friesel, Writer and translator ; Member of International PEN / First President of the German Union VS.
Neil Gaiman, Writer.
Rebeca García Nieto, Writer, Spain.
Marcel Gauchet, Philosopher, EHESS ; publisher of Le Debat.
Graeme Gibson, Novelist.
Mario Giordano, Writer.
Maurice Godelier, Professor of Anthropology, EHESS, Paris.
Jordan Goodman, Honorary Research Fellow in the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at College, London .
Professor Anthony T. Grafton, Historian, Princeton University.
Roland Greene, Mark Pigott KBE Professor in the School of Humanties and Sciences, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Stanford University.
Constanze Güthenke, Associate Professor of Greek Literature, Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford.
Ulla Hahn, Writer.
Matt Haig, Novelist and journalist.
Anton Harber, Caxton Professor of Journalism at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and chair of the Freedom of Expression Institute.
David Hare, Playwright.
Josef Haslinger, President, PEN-Centers, Germany.
Chris Hedges, Author, Pulitzer Prize Winner.
Amy Hempel, Short story writer and journalist.
Wolfgang Hermann, Author, Austria.
Uwe-Karsten Heye, Writer.
Jim Hicks, Executive Editor of the Massachusetts Review ; Professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Kathy High, Interdisciplinary artist, curator, scholar.
Adam Hochschild, Journalist, historian.
James Hollings, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Massey University Wellington, New Zealand.
Nick Hornby, Writer.
Violaine Huisman, Director of Humanities, Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Mark Lee Hunter, Investigative journalist, Paris.
Zehra İpşiroğlu, Author ; Professor of Theatre Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen.
Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor of History ; Director, Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University.
Gabriela Jaskulla, Writer and journalist.
Amy Edith Johnson, Columbia University.
Joachim Kalka, Writer and translator.
Karin Karlekar, Director of Free Expression At Risk Programs, PEN America.
A.L. Kennedy, Writer.
Tanja Kinkel, Writer.
Hubert Klöpfer, Publisher and member of PEN Germany.
Laurens van Krevelen, Writer and publisher, The Netherlands.
Barbara Krohn, Writer.
Hari Kunzru, Novelist and journalist.
Hanif Kureishi, Writer.
Olivia Laing, Writer and critic.
Jean-Manuel Larralde, Professor of Public Law, University of Caen, Normandy.
Camille Laurens, Writer.
Marie Lecomte-Tilouine, Director of research at CNRS, France.
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Vice President of PEN International.
Jo Lendle, Publisher, Carl Hanser Verlage.
Wolf Lepenies, Professor, Sociology, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin; Freie Universität.
Mark Lilla, Writer, Professor of Humanities, Columbia University.
Antoine Lilti, Professor, History, EHESS.
Professor Christoph Lindenmeyer, Author and journalist ; member of PEN-Center Germany.
Clementina Liuzzi, Literary agent.
Gert Loschütz, Writer.
Gila Lustiger, Writer, Germany / France.
Jonas Lüscher, Writer ; member of PEN-Center Germany.
Lindsay Mackie, Board member of English PEN and chair of its Readers and Writers Programme.
Alberto Manguel, Writer, Director of the National Library of Argentina.
Anthony Marx, President and CEO of The New York Public Library ; former president of Amherst College.
Frédérique Longuet Marx, Maître de conférences en sociologie à l’Université de Caen.
Hisham Matar, Writer.
Claudia Mattalucci, Professor, Anthropology, University of Milan-Bicocca.
Tom McCarthy, National affairs correspondent, The Guardian.
Ian McEwan, Novelist and screenwriter.
Jay McInerney, Novelist.
Maureen N. McLane, Professor of English, Director of Honors, New York University.
Norbert Mecklenburg, Professor of Literature, University of Cologne.
Allan Megill, Professor of History, University of Virginia.
Maria Meinel, Translator.
Laurent Mignon, Associate Professor of Turkish ; Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford.
Rick Moody, Writer.
Luiza Franco Moreira, Poet ; Professor and Chair, Department of Comparative Literaure at Binghampton University.
Paul W. Morris, Director of Literary Programs at PEN American Center.
Dirk Moses, Professsor, History, University of Sydney.
Glenn W. Most, Professor of Classics, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa ; The University of Chicago, Committee on Social Thought.
Madhusree Mukerjee, Writer.
Neel Mukherjee, Writer.
Enrique Murillo, Editor, Los libros del lince.
Herta Müller, Nobel Laureate in Literature.
Sten Nadolny, Novelist.
Azar Nafisi, Writer.
Ralf Nestmeyer, Author, historian.
Mary Ann Newman, Translator.
Steve Newman, Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of English, Temple University.
Thandie Newton, Actress.
Dr. Bui Hanh Nghi, Author.
Dr. Wulf Noll, Writer.
Olivier Nora, Publisher, Editions Grasset.
Françoise Nyssen, Publisher, Actes Sud.
Andrew O’Hagan, Novelist.
Hans-Christian Oeser, Literary Translator, Member of PEN.
Osman Okkan, Turkish-German Forum of Culture.
Michael Ondaatje, Novelist and poet.
Sandra Ozzola, Publisher, edizioni e/o, Europa editions.
Erol Önderoğlu, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Turkey.
Cem Özdemir, Chairman and Member of Parliament, Alliance 90/ The Greens, Germany.
Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Laureate in Literature.
Christian Parenti, Author, investigative journalist.
Tim Parks, Writer.
Philip N. Pettit, Historian, Philosopher, Princeton University; Australian National University.
DBC Pierre, Writer.
Angela Pimenta, Columnist and president of Projor (The Institute for Development of Journalism), São Paulo.
Philip Pullman, Writer.
Justin Quinn, Writer, translator ; Associate Professor, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Eduardo Rabasa, Writer.
Marie-Joëlle Redor-Fichot, Professor of Public Law, University of Caen, Normandy.
Daniel Rondeau, Writer; former ambassador.
Professor Michael Rothberg, 1939 Society Samuel Goetz Chair in Holocaust Studies, UCLA.
Frederick J. Ruf, Professor, Department of Theology, Georgetown University.
Alan Rusbridger, Journalist, Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and the former editor-in-chief of The Guardian.
Salman Rushdie, Writer ; Winned of the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Booker of Bookers prize.
P. Sainath, Author, journalist.
Professor Philippe Sands QC, University College London and Matrix Chambers.
Gisèle Sapiro, Professor of Sociology at the EHESS and Research Director at the CNRS,
Vice-President of the EHESS for International Relations.
Aram Saroyan, Poet and novelist.
Roberto Saviano, Journalist, writer.
Rafik Schami, Syrian-German writer.
Anya Schiffrin, Director (IMAC) at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Prof Dr. Wilfried F. Schoeller, Author, literary critic, professor of 20th Century Literatute, Literary Criticism Media, University.
Eugene Schoulgin, Vice President, PEN International.
Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Writer.
Professor Salvatore Settis, Art Historian, President of Louvre Museum’s Scientific Board ; Former President of Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.
Elif Shafak, Writer.
Jayeeta Sharma, Associate Professor of History, University of Toronto.
Peter Sillem, Editorial Director, S. Fischer Verlag.
Shelly Silver, Associate Professor, Visual Arts Program, Columbia University.
Dan Simon, Founder and publisher, Seven Stories Press.
Laura M. Slatkin, Professor, Classical Studies, New York University.
Ali Smith, Writer.
Marie-Carmen Smyrnelis, Historian, EHESS.
Lorin Stein, Editor of The Paris Review.
Juliet Stevenson, Stage and screen actress.
Klaus Stiller, Writer.
Tom Stoppard, Playwright and screenwriter.
Ulrich Straeter, Writer and publisher.
Leander Sukov, Author, Germany.
Johann P. Tammen, Poet and editor, Member of PEN.
Adam Thirlwell, Writer.
Emma Thompson, Actress, comedian, writer.
Uwe Timm, Writer, Germany.
Ilija Trojanow, Writer, translator, publisher.
Özgür Türesay, Senior Lecturer, Applied School of Advanced Studies, 4th Section, Section of historical and philological sciences.’’
Anja Utler, Writer, Germany.
Regula Venske, General Secretary, PEN Germany.
Charles V Wait, President, CEO and chairman of the board of The Adirondack Trust
Company, Saratoga Springs, New York ; Director of the New York Bankers Association.
Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University.
Günter Wallraff, Writer.
Irvine Welsh, Novelist and playwright.
Herbert Wiesner, Literary Critic, Member of German PEN Centre, Berlin.
Michel Wieviorka, Professor of Sociology, EHESS.
Dr. Thomas Wohlfahr, Director of Literature Workshop, House for Poetry, Berlin.
Felicia Zeller, Writer.
Nina zu Fürstenberg, President of Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations
Articolo pubblicato su Repubblica l’ 11/09/2016
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