Novelist Elif Shafak

Author Elif Shafak was acquitted after being taking to trial for "insulting Turkishness" when a fictional character described the Armenian genocide in her latest book. AFP/Getty Images You can listen to the entire program and buy her new book, The Bastard of Istanbul , here. Elif claims that Article 301 was introduced as a positive/progressive step towards EU integration.. at least compared to older articles which it replaced.. but that it is open to mis-interpretation and exploited by the Turkish Penal System.. I agree that it's mis-interpreted, but more so by outsiders.. If Article 301 was re-named to something more compatible with it's purpose, ... Read Full Story

Elif opines (paraphrased) that the enforcers of Article 301 are a minority who want to stop the EU process.. who want to see the country as a more xenophobic nation-state.. a closed society.. and I quote: "..It intrigues me to see how Armenians in the Diaspora tend to be past-oriented.. memory-oriented.. whereas when you look at the Turks.. that's not the case at all. We are more future oriented.. and in some ways we are a society of collective amnesia. So it's not only 1915 that we are unable to talk about.. but the whole past.. For many people in Turkey history begins in ... Read Full Story

“Article 301 has been used by ultranationalists as a weapon to silence political voices in Turkey,” Shafak told the Times . “In that sense, my case is not unusual. But for the first time, they are trying to bring a novel into court. The way they are trying to penetrate the domain of art and literature is quite new, and quite disturbing.” Read Full Story

Elif Shafak: Voice of a New Turkey “… all my family tree has been Something Somethingian, and I am the grandchild of genocide survivors who lost all their relatives at the hands of Turkish butchers in 1915″ Read Full Story

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