"IT'S LIKE NAZI GERMANY...IT'S A TICKING TIME BOMB" - SO SAYS LEADING TURKISH NOVELIST REGARDING RISE OF IDEOLOGICAL RIGHT IN TURKEY

In yet the latest of a series of reports from the international press commenting on the rise of outward manifestations of nationalist sentiment in Turkey, The Independent of March 3rd, focuses on how this growing trend had affected Turkey's beleaguered liberal intelligentsia ever since the murder of Hrant Dink in January.

The article focuses on the plight of Perihan Magden, a prominent female novelist and commentator, and others like her who have, in the past, run afoul of the law and particularly Article 301 of the Turkish Penal code that has been used to bring individuals to trial for the crime of " insulting Turkishness and the Turkish state".

According to this report and others, so menacing have conditions become in Turkey for dissenting individuals that many, like Orhan Pamuk, have fled the country or have gone into self-imposed seclusion in the country, rarely venturing out in public.

The Independent article quotes Perihan Magden as describing her plight thusly...

"We don't want to live like hunted animals, but we have been made international targets. It's a lottery and this time it stopped at Hrant's slot. What if next time it stops at mine?"

The report holds out little hope that calls to repeal the infamous Article 301 will be realized in the run-up to elections in Turkey later this year.

Read the entire Independent article !!!