“Pinar Selek is a thorn in the side of the Turkish government because
she has been engaging critically and courageously for years with the
Kurdish question, policy towards minorities in general and gender
issues in Turkey. I am travelling to Istanbul to observe the trial on
9 February because I wish to support Pinar Selek. She has already
been convicted once, then acquitted, and is now being prosecuted in
another court in Istanbul. I join with many others in calling on the
Turkish government to finally drop the proceedings against Pinar Selek.
Anyone who examines the accusations and proceedings will
swiftly realise there is no doubt that Pinar Selek is innocent.”
Background: the sociologist and author Pinar Selek stands accused
of having perpetrated a bomb attack twelve years ago. A total of
seven people died in an explosion at the Istanbul Spice Bazaar. No
one knows, even today, whether the explosion was caused by a
bomb or an accidental gas leak. What is considered to have been
proven, however, is that Pinar Selek had nothing to do with this tragic
event. Pinar Selek, who is currently living in Germany, announced in
November 2010 that she plans to go to the European Court of Human
Rights in Strasbourg in view of the Turkish authorities’ unceasing
persecution of her. She is supported in this by European human
rights activists and politicians, and by PEN, an international association
of writers.
Bundestag office
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Constituency office
Am Nörreut 19, 83022 Rosenheim
Tel: +49 (0)8031 98230
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