[LAF] Dawkin'spublisher faces jail over 'the God Delusion' in Turkey

[michelle martin]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3209882.ece

Dawkins' publisher faces jail over 'atheist manifesto'
By Nicholas Birch in Istanbul
Published: 30 November 2007

Richard Dawkins' best-selling atheist manifesto The
God Delusion was at the centre of a growing row over
religious tolerance yesterday after the Turkish
publishers of his book were threatened with legal
action by prosecutors who accuse it of 'insulting
believers'.

Erol Karaaslan, the founder of the small publishing
house Kuzey Publications, could face between six
months and a year in jail for "inciting hatred and
enmity" if Istanbul prosecutors decide to press
charges over the book, which has sold 6000 copies in
Turkey since it was published this summer.

"A reader complained, saying that he wanted the book
banned and the publishers punished", said Mr Karaaslan
after talks with the Istanbul state prosecutor. Mr
Karaaslan, whose company specialises in self-help
books and children's literature, has been given a few
days to prepare a written statement of defence.

This is not the first time Dawkins has come up against
the wrath of the Turkish authorities. Published here
in the mid-1990s, his less confrontational book The
Selfish Gene also faced problems, with the Islamist
government then in power trying to get it banned from
bookshops. The God Delusion, the fourth of Dawkins'
books to be published in Turkish, sparked controversy
with its damning approach to religion and unashamed
avowal of atheism. While some appreciated his
frankness, many questioned the book's relevance to
Turkish readers.

"It aims to explain atheism from the perspective of
Christianity", one amateur reviewer wrote, "and I
don't think that's of much use in a Muslim country,
because Muslims are already aware of the
contradictions and oddities of Christianity as it is."
Another writing on a popular blogging website was more
direct: "If I were God, I'd give Dawkins a good
smacking" they wrote.

Mr Karaaslan is by no means the first publisher to
face investigation in Turkey, a country that has
become notorious over the past two years for a slew of
cases based on laws restricting freedom of expression.
Nobel prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk and
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink were two of
dozens of writers to be charged last year under a
controversial law that makes it a crime to "insult
Turkishness." Pamuk was acquitted. Dink – who was
murdered this January by a 17-year ultra-nationalist -
was convicted.

The fact is, analysts say, that for all that it has a
secular constitution, Turkey remains a relatively
conservative country. The word atheist has only
recently appeared in Turkish, but "godless" still
remains an insult here. "Only 2% of the people we
interviewed said they didn't believe in God", says Ali
Carkoglu, co-author of a 2006 study of religious
attitudes.

"Given that we had a 2% margin of error that could
mean nobody", he added. "In any case it takes
considerable courage for a Turk to admit to a stranger
that they are atheists."

In this atmosphere, writers like Richard Dawkins will
invariably cause a stir. Polls done last summer showed
that only 25% of Turks accepted evolutionary theory.

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