Yavuz EKINCI
Writer accused of ‘terrorism propaganda’
Kurdish writer Yavuz Ekinci faces up to seven and a half years in prison on bogus terrorism propaganda grounds for his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). His trial opened in Istanbul in September 2024. The Court dismissed the case in December 2024 following PEN International’s campaign; the prosecution subsequently appealed the decision. Dream Divided remains banned for publication, distribution, and sale in Türkiye, where the authorities have dramatically increased their influence on the publishing landscape in recent years.
Writer Yavuz Ekinci remained on trial at the end of the year, accused of ‘making terrorist propaganda’ in relation to his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided), a charge that carries up to seven and a half years in prison under Article 7 of Türkiye’s Anti-Terror Law No. 3713 – routinely used to silence independent voices. The trial opened on 18 September 2024 at the 23rd High Criminal Court in Istanbul, which dismissed all charges against Ekinci on 9 December 2024 following PEN’s campaign. The prosecution subsequently appealed the decision; the case was pending as of 31 December 2024.
Previously, on 14 March 2023, a court in Istanbul ruled that Dream Divided included content amounting to ‘terrorist propaganda’ and banned its publication, distribution, and sale. Copies of the book were also confiscated. The case was pending before Türkiye’s Constitutional Court as of 31 December 2024.
In a separate case in March 2022, Ekinci was found guilty of ‘making terrorist propaganda’ and handed a suspended sentence of one year, six months and 22 days in prison, for eight tweets published on his Twitter account in 2013 and 2014. The tweets, none of which promoted or incited violence, for the most part related to the Newroz (New Year) celebrations in Diyarbakır, south-eastern Türkiye, and to the 2014 battle of Kobane in Syria. The case was pending before Türkiye’s Court of Cassation as of 31 December 2024. In 2018, a smear campaign was launched online against Ekinci following the publication of his book Peygamberin Endişesi (The Prophet’s Concern).
Yavuz Ekinci, born in 1979, has received multiple awards for his short stories, including the 2005 Haldun Taner Award and the 2007 Yunus Nadi Award. His work focuses on the plight of Kurdish people in Türkiye and has been translated into German, Greek, and Kurdish. He also works as a teacher and editor of Kurdish literature. Published in 2014, Dream Divided tells the journey of a Kurdish man who fled Türkiye for political reasons and struggles to build a new life in Germany. Upon learning that his father is gravely ill, the protagonist sets on a journey to find his long-lost brother, who took up arms years prior and fled to the Qandil Mountains. The book ends with a call for unity and peace.