A prominent Turkish novelist Asli Erdogan will remain in jail pending trial for writing articles for a pro-Kurdish newspaper accused of having links with militants, her lawyer told AFP on Monday. The writer and human rights activist was arrested on August 16 after a court ordered the temporary closure of the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem, which the government says has ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group by Ankara as well as the European Union and the United States.
Some 20 journalists were arrested along with Asli Erdogan, a month after the failed July 15 coup which led to a purge within state institutions. Her lawyer Cihat Duman confirmed that a petition objecting to her detention had been rejected by an Istanbul court and she will remain in a women's prison in the city.
The 49-year-old is accused of being a member of an illegal organisation as well as publishing "propaganda for a terrorist organisation" and for "incitement to disorder", her lawyer said. Such crimes mean if convicted she could face a sentence of up to life in prison. Her arrest has provoked shock and anger in Turkey and worldwide as she has been supported by fellow writers, journalists and artists.
A petition calling for her immediate release has garnered more than 30,000 signatures. Duman said Erdogan was facing charges because she was part of the editorial board of the newspaper, thus responsible for its editorial policy. She was also facing charges because of four articles she wrote that Duman said were accused of undermining Turkey's fight against terrorism. He said he had spoken to her, describing her as "unhappy" but continuing to receive medicine and food.
"Prison conditions are not convenient for such a sensitive person whose work is to write. She is unhappy because she cannot write." Launched in 1992, leftist daily Ozgur Gundem has been the subject of court closures and raids in the past and its journalists have been arrested. The paper has featured the writings of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned since 1999.
Duman said a trial date was not known because no indictment had been prepared. Duman blamed the delay on "a queue because of the coup criminals". He also claimed because of the mass arrests in the wake of the attempted coup an insufficient number of police or other staff were dealing with his client's case, adding that he would now apply to the top constitutional court. Erdogan's novels have been translated into several languages and her last novel, "The Stone Building", describes the difficulties of detention in Turkey.
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