Ragip Zarakolu
Years ago, Tom Lehrer sang “when correctly viewed, everything is lewd.” In today’s Turkey, one might well sing “when correctly viewed, everyone’s a terrorist.” How else do you explain the recent incarceration of Ragip Zarakolu, currently being held in a prison designed for hardened and dangerous criminals?
Zarakolu, 65-year-old and in ill health, is a book publisher and human rights activist who has been accused of terrorism– apparently because he gave a talk at a legal Kurdish political party’s Politics Academy. Professor Büşra Ersanlı was also detained and records of their interrogation by prosecutors show that both Zarakolu and Ersanlı were asked about their participation with the Politics Academy.
