Zehra, l’urgence de renouer le lien –

Les lecteurs francophones peuvent obtenir les dernières nouvelles (et la nouvelle adresse de Zehra Dogan à la prison de Tarse) en lisant l’article directement sur le site de Kedistan. 

Je rajoute la traduction anglaise ici, en attendant qu’elle paraisse aussi sur Kedistan.

Illustration: © Kedistan

Zehra – the urgency of reconnecting –

Zehra Dogan’s forced transfer 600km away from Diyarbakir prison has brutally cut off local links as well as the across-the-border support she was receiving. There is urgent need to renew the links toward her new address which is:

Zehra Dogan C-3

Tarsus Kadin Kapali CIK

Alifaki Mahallesi Alifaki sokak

Tarsus – MERSIN

TURKEY

Please note, any transcription error will void delivery of your messages.

We do not yet know if the prison administrators in Tarsus will accept mail in another language than Turkish, something that had finally been accepted by censors at the Amed prison, in light of the heavy volume of correspondence addressed to Zehra and her co-detainees.

That being the case, here is a first model letter in Turkish:

Sevgili Zehra,

Tarsus’a sevk edildigini biliyoruz. Dayanisma ve destegimiz seni her erde ayni sicaklik ve güçle izleyecek.

Seni ve tüm tutsak kadinlari sevgiyle selamliyoruz.

Which means:

Dear Zehra,

We know you have been transferred to Tarsus. Our solidarity and support will follow you everywhere with the same warmth and strength.

We send affectionate greetings to you and to all of the women co-detainees.

*

The family connection has been re-established in a complicated manner. Zehra is thus aware of the fact her transfer has not gone unnoticed, as has the fact that among the 20 prisoners transported in these difficult conditions, some had been diagnosed as gravely ill, and that this forced exile was done quickly and without the prior knowledge of their families and lawyers. Some Kurdish opposition media have published a denunciation.

We know that such forced exile has been a common occurrence for a long time for a number of prisoners, often in the final months of their incarceration. The ideology of imprisonment includes a notion of “atonement for faults” and it would thus be inconceivable that the parties leave jail without having been forced back into the straight and narrow. Here again, the motto applies of “showing the strength of the Turk“, especially concerning a young Kurdish woman seen, in the eyes of her judges, as  capable of terrorist propaganda.

As sinister as Amed prison may be, it may thus have been considered too soft and no doubt too permissive since forbidden works could escape its walls.

Zehra no longer needs to demonstrate, through her writings et her Art,  that she will not yield an inch to her torturers. It is more than likely that the new conditions in the Tarsus prison will render even more difficult any overt expression of this resistance.

We will continue to publicize her here, and to do our best so that, with the help of international associations or of committed individuals,  she be protected through the regular circulation of her name and of news concerning her. Exhibitions of reproductions and of originals of Zehra’s works continue, as do their sale. Kedistan remains at the disposal of associations requiring logistical support for these activities.

This “deportation” occurring just when Zehra has been chosen as recipient of a prize in the United States (a very Made-in USA type of prize), and following a long exhibition in Brittany, we will proceed a wrap-up report shortly.

We will soon be offering materials for public readings – excerpts from her letters or texts, in order to familiarize more people with Zehra, prior to the publication soon of a look at her work as a cartoonist…

Zehra gives all of us, individuals or supportive associations that have been following her for years, a task of vigilance until her liberation, possibly in a few months.

We use this opportunity to signal that no raising of funds are underway at the moment, contrary to calls you may have seen here or there or around one of her exhibitions. We are in a contractual relationship with Zehra, precisely in order to avoid  the use of her image, of her works or of solidarity for purposes she would not have personally approved herself. All financial solidarity is insured, in full transparency, through a dedicated bank account. Any bending of this principle constitutes a scam.

And to friend readings this and who have organized writing workshops, sent personal messages or shared them through their network, please update the address, because none of the mail sent to her previous address will reach her.

Illustration: © Kedistan

 

 

 

 

French-speakers may read the latest news (and Zehra’s new prison address) directly on the Kedistan website.

I add the English translation here, prior to its publication there.