Police Confiscated Several Books at the Book Fair in Diyarbakır

Turkish police seize books, including Mandela’s autobiography, from Aram Publishing at Diyarbakır book fair, sparking outrage and solidarity among publishers.

on Dec 05, 2024

Police Confiscated Several Books at the Book Fair in Diyarbakır | Frontlist

On December 4, Turkish police confiscated several books from Aram Publishing House at the annual book fair in Diyarbakır, a southeastern province. Among the seized books were Dildarê Serkeftinê (The Afrin Resistance Diary), which details the Syrian civil war, and Long Walk to Freedom, the autobiography of Nelson Mandela.

This action, part of an ongoing investigation, also included a book featuring letters from Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, a founding member of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Police justified the confiscation by citing a prosecutor’s order and conducted a search of the publishing house's booth.

Hakkı Boltan, the owner of Aram Publishing, condemned the confiscations, describing them as an attempt to intimidate staff and readers. He criticized the seizure of Mandela’s book, saying that the seizure reveals their opposition to Mandela’s values of democracy. He stressed that the intent was not just to ban books but to discourage people from reading, noting that such actions only fueled public interest in the books, especially among young people.

Other publishers at the fair expressed solidarity with Aram Publishing and criticized the police's actions.