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Turkey's Popular Jailhouse Authors

Turkish military officers, journalists and academicians have published more than 60 books from behind bars recently, writes Tulin Daologlu. 

Journalist Soner Yalcin (2nd L) is escorted by plainclothes policemen upon his arrival at a courthouse in Istanbul February 17, 2011. The prominent Turkish journalist was charged on Friday with links to a shadowy, ultra-nationalist group accused of seeking to overthrow the government, joining two of his colleagues in jail pending trial. Soner Yalcin, who runs a news website fiercely critical of the government, was detained earlier this week in a case which triggered a diplomatic spat between Turkish officia
Journalist Soner Yalcin was escorted by plainclothes policemen upon his arrival at a courthouse in Istanbul on February 17, 2011. — REUTERS/Stringer

ANKARA — Only in Turkey can accused “terrorists” overwhelm the shelves of Turkish bookstores from behind bars. These trendy new jailhouse authors that include Turkish military officers, academicians and journalists have published more than 60 books. Many of them have been detained since June 2007 under a colossal trial called the “Ergenekon,” that accused 275 but convicted none of plotting to overthrow Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

At the TUYAP book fair in Istanbul recently, it was mind boggling to see the number of bestselling authors who wrote their oeuvres from behind bars.  

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