Turkey: Ahmet Altan nominated for Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
Ahmet Altan
This week holds two milestones for the imprisoned Turkish author Ahmet Altan.
Tuesday represented three years since Altan and his brother Professor Mehmet Altan were arrested in a raid. They received life sentences, charged with attempting to overthrow 'constitutional order,' 'interfering with the work of the national assembly,' and 'interfering with the work of the government.'
Today, Altan's latest work, I Will Never See the World Again, has been nominated for The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize), which carries a value of £50,000. The book, which joins 11 books on the longlist, was put together from notes Altan passed to his lawyers.
The judges of the prize said, "Each page of the book you hold in your hands is a resounding testament to the power of the artist’s imagination."
The winner of the prize will be announced on 19 November.
Altan is serving a life sentence. PEN International and PEN Centres have observed his trial since the first hearing in July 2017 and have found the proceedings to be marred from the outset by profound violations of the defendants’ rights to a fair trial.