Türkiye: Free Kurdish poet Ilhan Sami Çomak
Image: Gianluca Costantini
"Take me away from this stagnation
I’ve seen so much of the abyss. Long, so long
I’ve stared at it - that void is just repetition.
It’s time for me to say I'm a bird that is showered in rain
It’s time to breathe the smell of soil, fill with it, grow again.
Know me by my love, not by my loneliness.
Comprehend me from what I long for, not by what I have lost.
Understand me by my childhood, not by the me of today.
I'm searching for you."
- From 'Freedom' by Ilhan Sami Çomak
Translated by Caroline Stockford
27 August 2024: PEN Norway, the undersigned PEN Centres and PEN International, express their extreme dismay at the unanimous decision of the parole board convened at Silivri Prison, Istanbul, to rule against the release due on 21 August 2024 of Türkiye’s longest-serving student prisoner, internationally-regarded Kurdish poet and honorary PEN member Ilhan Sami Çomak.
Çomak was arrested whilst studying geography at Istanbul University in 1994. He reported being tortured for 19 days before signing a false confession to having set fires in forestry above Istanbul in the name of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Çomak was cleared of this bogus charge, but found guilty in October 2000, by a State Security Court, of the crime of separatism and sentenced to life imprisonment . In 2007, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that his right to fair trial had been violated. Çomak was sentenced to life in prison - a term of 36 years - following a retrial that began in 2014. We note that it is usual to release prisoners once a retrial has been ordered and we question how Çomak was kept in prison for eight years after the ECtHR had ruled that such a retrial was necessary.
Çomak was due for release on parole on 21 August 2024. However, the parole board, to which a new member was added just one week prior to its final convening, found to unanimously deny Çomak his freedom despite his declaration to dedicate his life to the pursuit of literature and poetry. The board listed the four or five times that Çomak had supposedly spoken a political slogan or made 'unnecessary noise' over a period of 30 years in prison. They determined that Çomak had not shown enough remorse for the crime of separatism and that his case should be reviewed in three months' time. PEN Norway and other PEN Centres will be closely monitoring the proceedings due to take place after the submission of an appeal to the board's decision within 15 days.
PEN Norway and the signatories wish to express their extreme frustration at the cruel and baseless ongoing imprisonment of this highly regarded poet, whose work itself is a testament to his peaceful aspirations, and strongly oppose the seemingly politically-motivated extension of his detention.
PEN Norway and fellow Centres make it known that they will be closely monitoring the progress of the appeal of Çomak's lawyers against the parole board decision of 20 August 2024 and hope to see the overturning of this arbitrary and vaguely-outlined decision. İlhan Sami Çomak has been denied his freedom for his entire adult life to date. He should not be detained a day further.
Signed:
PEN Norway
PEN International
Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann
PEN America
PEN Català
PEN Esperanto
PEN Netherlands
PEN Québec
PEN San Miguel
Swedish PEN
Vietnamese PEN Abroad
Wales PEN Cymru
Additional information
İlhan Sami Çomak is a prize-winning poet, recipient of the Sennur Sezer poetry prize (1999), the Metin Altıok prize (2022) and the Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression award (2022) member of the Writers' Union of Türkiye, prize-winning playwright and honorary member of the following PEN Centres: PEN Norway, Wales PEN Cymru, Irish PEN Na H'Eireann, PEN Sydney and PEN Austria. He has been in poetic conversation by letter with over 80 world-renowned poets and has a huge poetic family extending all over the globe.
PEN, the global network of more than 130 Centres in over 90 countries, has been campaigning for freedom of expression and for the release of writers in prison for over 100 years. We invite all poets and writers affiliated and non-affiliated with the PEN movement as well as members of the public worldwide to write to İlhan, sending a non-political message of solidarity, in Turkish by postcard to the following address:
İlhan Sami Çomak
Silivri 5 No.lu L Tipi Kapalı Cezaevi
C12 Silivri
İstanbul
Turkey
Sample message below:
Dear Ilhan,
We hope that, soon, you will be reunited with your freedom and that it will be a new start for you and your poetry. We send you our respect and the love of friendship. Stay strong, we send you greetings from your PEN family. You are never alone.
With solidarity,
Sevgili İlhan,
Çok yakında özgürlüğünüze kavuşacağınız, siz ve şiiriniz için yeni bir başlangıcın olmasını ümit ediyoruz. Size, sonsuz saygılarımızı ve dostça sevgilerimizi ileriyoruz. Güçlü kalın, PEN’deki aileniz olarak size selamlıyoruz! Asla yalnız değilsiniz.
Dayanışmayla,
