Rome Marches; Talks from Rome
Date: 2000
Region: Middle East
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Literature
Artists: Abdullah Ocalan (b. 1948); Abdullah Gunduz
Confronting Bodies: Istanbul State Security Court
Date of Action: September 2000
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Description of Artwork: The books Rome Marches and Talks from Rome offer speeches by former Kurdish movement (PKK) president Abdullah Ocalan (pictured at left) who lived in exile in Rome and unsuccessfully fought extradition from there in a high profile case. Ocalan is currently serving a life sentence in Turkey.
The Incident: Ten hours after the books went on sale the Istanbul State Security Court ordered them banned and confiscated all copies.
Results of Incident: The two books were banned and confiscated less than a day after they went on sale. The publisher, Abdullah Gunduz of Aram Publishing House, asserted that 20 of the last 24 books he has published have been confiscated.
Source: Index on Censorship, 6/2000
