Turkish authorities have imposed a nationwide ban and recall orders on jailed Kurdish politician Gültan Kışanak’s book ‘The Purple Colour of Kurdish Politics’.
The ban, enacted by the İzmir 2nd Criminal Peace Judgeship under case number 2022/9865, raises concern over Kurdish representation and the right to free speech in the country.
Kışanak’s book, which delves into the experiences of Kurdish women in politics, has been declared “unfit for distribution” across the country.
The former co-mayor of Diyarbakır (Amed), Turkey’s largest Kurdish-majority city, Kışanak was arrested in 2016 on charges of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) membership and sentenced to over 14 years in prison. Despite her incarceration, she managed to edit the book while serving her sentence in Kocaeli F Type Prison.
“The Purple Color of Kurdish Politics” explores the personal and collective challenges faced by Kurdish women, as well as their political beliefs informed by anti-capitalist and socialist movements in Turkey. Edited by Ruken Işık, Emek Ergün and Janet Biehl, it was translated by 24 female academics and activists and published by Pluto Books.