Gulgeç AKDENIZ (pen name Gulgeş DERYASPÎ)

Writer and Kurdish PEN member Gulgeç Akdeniz – pen name Gulgeş Deryaspî – remained on trial at the end of the year, appealing a six-year three-month prison term imposed after conviction on 3 December 2020 of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ under Article 314/2 of Türkiye’s Penal Code. She denies any wrongdoing.  

Deryaspî was arrested on 25 July 2019 following simultaneous raids across Bitlis province, eastern Türkiye, during which eight other individuals were also detained. She was charged on 29 July 2019 and sent to Bitlis E Type Closed Prison. The first hearing was held on 4 February 2020; she was released from pre-trial detention on 30 March 2020 in an effort by prison authorities to stem breakouts of COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails. Her appeal before the Court of Cassation was lodged on 28 February 2021. PEN International has campaigned for her release. 

Born in 1978, Gulgeç Deryaspî studied Kurdish Language and Culture at Muş University, eastern Türkiye. She has published three novels in Kurdish. Tariya Bi Tav (Darkness with Sunshine), published in 2010, portrays life in Kurdish villages and explores the concept of alienation. Xezal (Gazelle), published in 2013, depicts the struggle of a woman standing against patriarchy and state oppression, while Ez Ne Ezim (I am not who I am), published in 2018, explores existential and philosophical questions. She has been a member of Kurdish PEN since 2013. She joined German PEN’s Writers-in-Exile programme in 2023.