A judgeship has banned a poetry book written by Figen Yüksekdağ, a former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who has been in prison since 2016. The issues of the book will be removed from stores and destroyed.
In its decision regarding the book, the Antalya 6th Penal Judgeship of Peace said, “It has been understood that the content was written for the PKK/KCK terrorist organization to continue its organizational existence through the means of publishing and broadcasting and to receive the support of masses of people.”
The judgeship ruled for the prohibition of the printing and distribution book titled “Yıkılacak Duvarlar” (The Walls to Come Down).
Also, the issues of the book will be removed from stores and destroyed, according the judgment.
The judgeship deemed a poem about the 2015 conflict in the country’s Kurdish-majority regions “terrorist propaganda.”
The Ceylan Publishing House, which published the book, tweeted, “Our publishing house collective will make poems and novels of revolution and our theoretical roadmaps to meet with the readers under any condition!
Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu is a politician and journalist, who was a former co-leader of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey from 2014 to 2017, serving alongside Selahattin Demirtaş. She was a Member of Parliament for Van since the June 2015 general election until her parliamentary membership was revoked by the courts on 21 February 2017. Her party membership and therefore her co-leadership position were revoked by the courts on 9 March 2017 following a six-year prison sentence for distributing terrorist propaganda. She is still in prison.