Monday, October 15, 2007

Mehmed Uzun, a Kurdish novelist who was prosecuted for criticizing Turkey's former ban on the Kurdish language, was commemorated by thousands Saturday at his funeral in Diyarbakır.

Thousands commemorated the memory of Mehmed Uzun, a Kurdish novelist who was prosecuted for criticizing Turkey's former ban on the Kurdish language, at his funeral in Diyarbakır Saturday.

His friend and colleague Yaşar Kemal, one of Turkey's prominent novelists, said that he would live though his outstanding works.

Born in the eastern city of Şanlıurfa in 1953, Uzun was a prolific author who insisted in writing in his mother tongue, the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish, despite the language ban which ended in the early 90's. From 1977 to 2005 he had lived in exile in Sweden as a political refugee. During that time he wrote a dozen Kurdish language novels and essays, and achieved a great deal toward shaping a modern Kurdish literary language. In 2006 he was diagnosed with cancer and three months ago he had come to Diyarbakır to spend his final days.

In his last request, Uzun had asked three people to speak at his funeral, who were all present in Saturday's crowded service. “This is the first time that so many people have come to the funeral of a writer,” said Kemal. “Mehmed will be the hero of his people, for he is the one who created the modern Kurdish novel,” he said. Kemal also reminded that Uzun demanded to see peace in the Kurdish-populated areas. “This war will soon be over,” Kemal said in an indirect reference to the clash between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Armed Forces. “That day Mehmed will be find peace in his grave,” he said.

The other two speakers were Kurdish politicians: Ahmet Türk, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and a member of the Turkish Parliament, and Şerafettin Elçi, the leader of a small Kurdish political party called Participatory Democracy Party. “Mehmed always hoped for the unity of the Kurds,” said Türk. “That's what we should strive for.” Elçi praised the genius of the late writer. “Mehmed Uzun deserved a Nobel, too,” he said, “it should be given to him post obitum.”