Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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.Professor B~kaya reflects on 20 months<br />
In<br />
•<br />
prIson<br />
•<br />
Ba~kaya~whom we<br />
interviewed at his<br />
apartment, said, 'If<br />
their aim had been to<br />
stop the 'people.from<br />
learning'myopinions,<br />
my punishment has<br />
been a'compl<strong>et</strong>e fiasco'<br />
Sinan Yllmaz<br />
Turkish Daily News I<br />
ANKARA- Professor Fikr<strong>et</strong> Ba~kaya<br />
.was not a very well-known man: Those<br />
who knew him were mostly the stu<strong>de</strong>nts<br />
:of tzz<strong>et</strong> Baysal University, where<br />
B~kaya is alecturer, and those who read<br />
his books.<br />
. B~kaya frrst attfclctedattention after he<br />
started writing in Öz~ Gün<strong>de</strong>m newspaper.<br />
Later, his book 'The Collapse of the<br />
Paradigm" was published. The book, in<br />
w~1ichBa~kaya argued that the official<br />
line which had been put forward until<br />
today had no validity, attracted the attention<br />
of book lovers. However, it must<br />
have attracted the attention of somebody<br />
else as well because a l<strong>et</strong>ter was sent to<br />
B~kaya by the Prosecutor's Office, saying<br />
" since we will ask for your state.<br />
ment we eX{lectyou to be present at the<br />
Prosecutors's Office ..."<br />
B~kaya did not turn down the invitation<br />
and went tothe.prosecutor's 9ffice. A<br />
tile had been opened against him on<br />
charges of disseniin~ting separatist prop~-<br />
. ganda un<strong>de</strong>r ArtIcle' 8 of the AntI-<br />
. Terrorism Law. In other words, he had<br />
supported "separatism" as many other<br />
"CrIminals of thought" have done.<br />
B~kaya was fRed, found guilty and sentenced<br />
to 20 months in pnson and fined<br />
TL 41 million. He began his jail sentence<br />
on March 17, 1994, In Haymana Prison.<br />
At the same time Ba~kaya's book was<br />
being sold everywhere. He was, in fact, in<br />
prison because of a -book which was not<br />
banned. As he exrressed it, "They sent<br />
the criminal to jai but did not touch the<br />
source 'of the crime." '.<br />
Five editions of the book were pub-<br />
. lished while B~kaya was in prison. There<br />
. were also an unknown number of illegal<br />
publications. Consequently, Ba~kaya .<br />
nghtly said, "If their aIm was to stop the<br />
JX:Oplef!'Omlearmng my i<strong>de</strong>as, my pun-<br />
Ishment ISa compl<strong>et</strong>e fiasco." . .<br />
Ba~kaya,whom we visited at his apartment<br />
after his release from pris0'l1 on~e<br />
a8~n failed to keep, silent and express~d<br />
his I<strong>de</strong>as bravely. His remarks follow: ..<br />
TDN. I must first say welcome back.<br />
How was your life in prison? Could you<br />
tell us about it?<br />
. BA~KAYA. I didn't havemuch trou- .<br />
ble. I continued to do what I used to do'<br />
before. I was involved in translating,.",:riting<br />
and reading when I was out of JaIl. I<br />
continued to do so in jail. I did not suffer<br />
any material" orpnysiCilI problems.<br />
NeIther did I suffer from loneliness. On<br />
,the contrary, I found the opportunity to<br />
see many people whom I haven't seen for<br />
a long time. Thus, my life was not interrupted<br />
at aiL I can say that they failed to<br />
achieve their objectives by putting me in<br />
jail. They wanted 10 isolate me. r was not<br />
Isolated. They wanted to prevent me from<br />
writing, readIng and producing opinions.<br />
They failed to do so.<br />
TDN- What did you do throughout the<br />
day? . ,<br />
BA~KA YA- For some time I was<br />
inv~l~ed in sp,orts. Later; wc quit .sports, .<br />
claImIng that It was too hot. We listened'<br />
.to news bull<strong>et</strong>ins. I used to write and<br />
translate. I translated two books into<br />
. Turkish. But I hit trouble at the publishing<br />
stage. The printing rights belonged to<br />
a foundation in the United States and they<br />
4sked for a' great <strong>de</strong>al of money. So I<br />
could not g<strong>et</strong> It published.<br />
TDN- What does the outsi<strong>de</strong> world<br />
.look like when you view it fromjail?<br />
BASKA y A- It is important where<br />
look. Éut it is more important from where<br />
you look at it. When you look from jail,<br />
Turkey. 's socioeconomic and politIca. I<br />
geography does not create ahopef~)<br />
u.1<br />
5 .....,<br />
.ProCessor Fikr<strong>et</strong> B~kàya (L) with TDN's Sinan ytlmaz . TJ?N-Cengiz Uysa!<br />
164