Prominent publisher, writer and activist Rag?p Zarakolu, who was arrested nearly two weeks ago, is locked up in Kocaeli, a high-security prison. Zarakolu is being incarcerated at an F-type prison that hosts “dangerous convicts and prisoners” in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, alongside 17 other suspects who were also arrested. Speak out against this gross violation of human rights in Turkey. More importantly, show your solidarity with Mr. Zarakolu, and let the prison officials and the Turkish Ministry of Justice know how much support Mr. Zarakolu has worldwide. Readers should send as many letters andcards as possible to him from all over the world. Here is his address: Ragip Zarakolu, 2 No’lu Ceza Ä°nfaz Kurumu, Kocaeli, TURKEY. The Turkish police used Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s so-called “KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) affair” as a cover to arrestZarakolu, a well-known Turkish human rights activist and director of Belge Publishing House, in Turkey. An award-winning writer and publisher, Zarakolu is also chairman of the Publishers’ Association Freedom to Publish Committee of Turkey. His detention was preceded by the October 4 arrest of his son Deniz Zarakolu, editor of Belge Publishing House. Belge has published Turkish editions of books that are ground-breaking in that country, including books documenting the 1915 Armenian Genocide and “The KCK File/The Global State and Kurds Without a State” by Mehmet Güler. “It is essential not to confuse the efforts of those who, like Ragip Zarakolu, have worked to bring down barriers of censorship in Turkey with those who press political agendas through violence. … Zarakolu is an honored PEN colleague and internationally-recognized defender of the right to write and publish freely. We emphatically protest his arrest,” PEN American Center “Freedom to Write” program director Larry Siemssaid in a statement. Zarakolu is outspoken on various human rights issues including the oppression of national minorities in Turkey as well as the Armenian Genocide. Despite several imprisonments by succeeding military juntas in Turkey, Zarakolu relentlessly championed for freedom of thought and expression, emphasizing an attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures in Turkey. The Ankara Initiative for Freedom of Thought (http://gercek-inatcidir.blogspot.com) has launched a signature gathering campaign that I encourage readers to sign. The Initiative protests recent massive unwarranted imprisonments. The campaign is named “That’s enough!” (“YETT? ARTIK !”— in Turkish) Click the signature form (“Destek için imza formu”) at the above web-address and submit it with the mention of name (“adi soyadi”), profession (“meslegi”) and city/country (“sehir ve/veya ülke”). http://www.armenianlife.com/2011/11/13/show-your-solidarity-to-imprisoned-turkish-free-thinker/

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