Doğan Akhanlı is a Turkish-German writer. Since the 1990s he has lived in Cologne. His work centers around the major genocides of the 20th century, the systematic extermination of the Armenians and the Jews. Critics also praise him for his storytelling and his engagement in human rights work. In general they praise him for his engagement and in particular they praise him for his work with Turkish dissidents. His political point of view has led to several arrests.
Life
Akhanlı was born in Şavşat in the Artvin Province located in the Northeast of Turkey. He grew up in this small village. Age 12 he moved to live with his older brother in Istanbul and to continue education. He was arrested for a brief period in 1975 because he bought a left-wing paper. This incident led to his political interest and engagement. After the coup d'état in 1980 he went underground. From 1985 to 1987 he was imprisoned for political reasons in a military jail in Istanbiul. Akhanlı was tortured there. In 1991 he fled to Germany and requested asylum. Since the mid 1990s he lives in Cologne as a writer of political prose and essays. In 1998 the Turkish authorities stripped him of his citizenship. Three years later he became a German citizen. Akhanli is a collaborator of the association "recherche international", which furthers the investigation of the Armenian Genocide, committed in the first quarter of the 20th century. He has repeatedly raised his voice to debate the crimes against the Armenians. He also initiated the foundation of the Raphael Lemkin Library, located in Cologne, named after the man, he first described the atrocities against the Armenians as genocide. On 10 August 2010, Doğan Akhanlı was arrested on entry into Turkey and was kept in investigative detention due to an alleged participation in a 1989 robbery incident. In December 2010 he was released. The trial continued in 2011 in his absence. Akhanlı denied any involvement in the crime and denounced the accusation as politically motivated and constructed. On 12 October 2011, Akhanlı was acquitted "for lack of evidence". Two witnesses had withdrawn their accusations, stating that they were forced by police to name Akhanlı. Thereafter the Turkish authorities imposed an entry ban on the writer which was heavily criticized by German politician Cem Özdemir. In April 2013, the acquittal was lifted and an international arrest warrant was issued. On 19 August 2017, the Spanish police arrested Akhanlı in Granada at the request of Turkish authorities. After an intervention of German foreign ministerSigmar Gabriel he was set free, but he is not allowed to leave Madrid until the court has decided about the Turkish extradition request. The ruling is expected within the next forty days. On 20 August 2017 German chancellor Angela Merkel sharply criticized the Turkish government because of abusing the international institutionInterpol.
Œuvre
Akhanlı has consistently displayed a very direct and open approach to historical violence, defending the universality of human rights and searching for the cause of the violence of the masses. His commitment in literature and political statements centers around the genocides of the 20th century, the Armenian genocide and the Shoah. His literature promotes cross-cultural dialogue and combines it with a call to reconciliation. He is a member of the PEN Centre Germany and has repeatedly spoken out in favor of imprisoned Turkish writers such as Aslı Erdoğan.
