''Devran'' is a book authored by the Kurdish politician

Selahattin Demirtaş Selahattin Demirtaş (born 10 April 1973) is a Kurdish politician, lawyer and author. He was the co-leader of the left-wing pro- Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 to 2018. Selahattin Demirt ...

while he was in prison in

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In the book are included fourteen short stories, which focus on human rights of Kurds in Turkey. After ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', it is the second book of Demirtaş and was published in 2019 by

İletişim Yayınları İletişim Yayınları ( English: ''Contact Publications'') is an independent publishing company based in Istanbul, Turkey. It has published authors including Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwr ...

. It has a dedication to his parents who stood by their children for seventeen years while they were prosecuted or in prison.

Impact

In January 2020, the book was included into a play by during which artists read out stories included in the book. Opposition politicians like the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoğlu or the Party chair of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP),

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...

also attended the play. In 2019, Turkish prosecutors classified the possession of the book as an evidence of being a member a terrorist organization claiming it was written to praise the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK). Despite the classification by the prosecution, the book is legally available in Turkey and can also be bought over

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. The book caused further turmoils in 2020, as

Bülent Arınç Bülent Arınç (; born 25 May 1948) is a conservative Turkish politician. He served as the 22nd Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey from 2002 to 2007 and as a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey between 2009 and 2015. He also co-founded the Just ...

, a prominent politician of the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP) advised the public society to read the book, which caused a condemning response by the Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep is a Turkish name deriving from the Arabic name Rajab. It may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (1929–2017), Turkish fo ...

calling Demirtaş a terrorist. From politicians of the far-right

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

(MHP), Arınç was also criticized and asked if he receives a commission for his promotion of a PKK book. After a police investigation on HDP politicians in November 2021, Devran was displayed as a terrorism document together with other books of Demirtaş.{{Cite web, date=2021-11-27, title=Police display Demirtaş's books as 'terrorism documents' after raiding HDP members' houses, url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkish-police-display-selahattin-demirtass-books-as-terrorism-documents-after-raiding-hdp-members-houses-news-59674, access-date=2021-12-17, website=

Gazete Duvar Duvar was an online news portal which focuses mainly on Turkish politics. Duvar's headquarters are located in Sariyer Istanbul. History It was founded in 2016 by Vedat Zencir, the first conscientious objector in Turkey. Its current editor-i ...

References

2019 short story collections 21st-century Turkish books Human rights in Turkey Books adapted into plays