Elif Shafak: Turkish novelist calls for support as writers face crackdown

Author speaks out as the regime’s prosecutors ask to examine her novels

A leading Turkish novelist Elif Shafak on Saturday urged the international community to show support for the country’s authors, journalists and academics, and warned that all traces of democracy were being crushed there.

“Turkey today is the world’s leading jailer of journalists,” she told the Hay Festival. “It’s also very tough for academics. Thousands of people have lost their jobs just for signing a peace petition.”

Turkey is going backwards with a bewildering speed, all traces of democracy have been crushed

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