Amed 8th Book Fair ended after 9 days. Tens of thousands of people visited the fair, where 216 publishing houses, 26 of them Kurdish, opened stands. Many authors met with their readers and signed their books at the fair. One of those who signed their books was Nusret Yıldız, who wrote more than 30 books during his 30 years of imprisonment. 

Yıldız, who was arrested in Aydın in 1993 and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Erzurum State Security Court (DGM) for "disrupting the unity and integrity of the state", was released from prison at the age of 48. Released from Şakran Type T Prison No. 2 on 30 October 2023, Yıldız wrote 30 books during his imprisonment. Only "I am Ehmedê Xani" was published by Aram Publishing House, and Yıldız's other works are awaiting publication.

 

WRITE BOOK AS CONTINUATION OF STRUGGLE

 

Stating that most of his works are in the fields of philosophy, history and literature in Kurdish and in line with the needs of the people, Yıldız said that he sees writing as the continuation of the struggle. Stating that he was looking for the way of struggle after his arrest, Yıldız said: "The continuation of the struggle in prison conditions was through writing literature, philosophy and history. Therefore, although we reacted emotionally when we were young, we did not know our roots. We were alien to the roots, history and culture of our people. The Kurdish people have survived so many difficulties and defended their language. This shows that they have a very old, strong culture and history. This made an impression on us."

 

THE GREAT HISTORY OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE

 

The way of struggle and resistance is literature said Yıldız and added: "We can say that literature emerged from history and history emerged from literature. The two compement each other. But it cannot be done without philosophy. Philosophy also shows its depth. A philosophical mind is necessary to explain history and culture. There is no history greater than the history of the Kurdish people. Of course we respect the history of all peoples, but our history is older than theirs. It would be a great service to humanity if the Kurdish history is unearthed and explained. I started writing with this belief."

 

'THE GREATEST DECISION AGAINST OPPRESSION IS TO WRITE'

 

Stating that it is difficult to write a book in prison due to intolerance of time, space, technique and ideas, Yıldız said: "For example, you work hard for 4 years, 10 years, you produce a product, and then one day it is confiscated, taken away or not given. This breaks the desire to write, to produce a product. Therefore, the biggest decision against this pressure is to write. Not only writing was not enough, but defending it also required a great deal of effort."

 

'PUBLISHING HOUSES WANT THE WORKS IN DIGITAL MEDIA'

 

Stating that there is a technical problem for imprisoned writers, Yıldız underlined that imprisoned writers have to write their works by hand, but publishing houses demand the digital version of the works and emphasised that this is unfair. Stating that due to this technical problem, only "I am Ehmedê Xani", one of the more than 30 works he wrote in prison, was published, "I had the opportunity to use a computer, someone wrote it on a computer and the book came out. But the others, especially the Kurdish ones, were not computerised, so they were waiting. They will be printed as they are computerised," Yıldız said.

 

CRITICISM OF SPEAKING TURKISH TO CHILDREN

 

He stated that when he was in prison, Kurdish people who spoke Turkish were condemned in their own society and were seen as having "lost their roots", but after he was released from prison he realised that everyone spoke Turkish. Criticising families for speaking Turkish with their children, Yıldız continued as follows: "For what purpose are they doing this? The approach of 'let them know Turkish, let their minds be open, let them be successful at school' is very wrong. Children who speak many languages are more successful at school. Those who see their mother tongue as an obstacle to their children's future do themselves the greatest injustice. A people is recognised by its own language. A people who do not speak their own language assimilates themselves and does themselves an injustice. Let us not look for enemies for ourselves. We are making the biggest enmity to ourselves."

 

FIRST FAIR ATTENDED

 

Stating that it was the first time he had participated in a book fair, Yıldız said that it made him happy. "I saw the spirit of Amed here," said Yıldız and added: "This fair is a great service for Kurdish culture. No matter what happens, no matter how deficient it is, we should not let deficiencies stand in our way. These fairs should always continue."

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel