‘They Didn’t Give Me My Own Book Because It was in Kurdish’

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Ahmet Bilge has been behind bars for 26 years. He is currently held in Elbistan Type E Closed Prison in Turkey's southeastern province of Maraş.

In his letter to bianet in early May, Ahmet Bilge said that while the whole world was struggling against the coronavirus outbreak, they were struggling against the ban on their language: "It might sound a bit weird, but I could not receive the book that I wrote myself because it was in Kurdish..."

Concluding his letter with a smile, he extended his wishes for good health and sent the following drawings to bianet:

(International Working Women's Day)

"Neriman, what are you doing here?"

"Mahmut! What are 'you' doing here!?"

"You are under arrest because you are the political 'foot' of the FETÖ [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization]."

"I knew that it would finally be on my head!"

"We need workers."

"Take me, bro! Me! Me! I work cheap!"

"They used to say that robots would take over our jobs one day, but I didn't believe them. Look at these rascals, they are now reducing the wages!"

"We are now ready for all disasters, our doomsday storeroom is ready!"

"Yeah, sure... Where will you find the things that we will put in there?"

"They are historians, philologists, anthropologists and archaeologists from different universities, your honor. For the testimony of a citizen from the southeast, you said that it was made in 'an unintelligible language.' It got their attention. They say that, with the help of this language not yet discovered, they can perhaps unearth the developments lying in the darkness of history."

"We are screwed."

(AS/SD)