“Take me away from this stagnation
I’ve seen so much of the abyss. Long, so long
I’ve stared at it – that void is just repetition.
It’s time for me to say I’m a bird that is showered in rain
It’s time to breathe the smell of soil, fill with it, grow again.
Know me by my love, not by my loneliness.
Comprehend me from what I long for, not by what I have lost.
Understand me by my childhood, not by the me of today.
I’m searching for you.”
– From ‘Freedom’ by Ilhan Sami Çomak
Translated by Caroline Stockford
Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann, PEN Norway, the undersigned PEN Centres (PEN statement here) and PEN International, express their extreme dismay and are saddened at the unanimous decision of the parole board convened at Silivri Prison, Istanbul, to rule against the release due on 21 August 2024 of Turkey’s longest-serving student prisoner, internationally-regarded Kurdish poet and honorary Irish PEN member Ilhan Sami Çomak.
Çomak was due for release on parole on 21 August 2024. However, the parole board, to which a new member was added just one week prior to its final convening, unanimously ruled to deny Çomak his freedom despite his declaration to dedicate his life to the pursuit of literature and poetry.
Write a letter to Ilhan:
We invite all poets and writers as well as members of the public worldwide to write to İlhan, sending a non-political message of solidarity, in Turkish only by postcard to the following address:
İlhan Sami Çomak
Silivri 5 No.lu L Tipi Kapalı Cezaevi
C12 Silivri
İstanbul
Turkey
Sample message below:
Dear Ilhan,
We hope that, soon you will be reunited with your freedom and that it will be a new start for you and your poetry. We send you our respect and the love of friendship. Stay strong, we send you greetings from your PEN family. You are never alone.
With solidarity,
Sevgili İlhan,
Çok yakında özgürlüğünüze kavuşacağınız, siz ve şiiriniz için yeni bir başlangıcın olmasını ümit ediyoruz. Size, sonsuz saygılarımızı ve dostça sevgilerimizi ileriyoruz. Güçlü kalın, PEN’deki aileniz olarak size selamlıyoruz! Asla yalnız değilsiniz.
Dayanışmayla,
Sign the Petition!https://chng.it/kMGk8bCrxb
Additional information:
İlhan Sami Çomak is a prize-winning poet, recipient of the Sennur Sezer poetry prize (1999), the Metin Altıok prize (2022) and the Norwegian Authors’ Union Freedom of Expression award (2022) member of the Writers’ Union of Turkey, prize-winning playwright and honorary member of the following PEN Centres: PEN Norway, Wales PEN Cymru, Irish PEN Na H’Eireann, PEN Sydney and PEN Austria. He has been in poetic conversation by letter with over 80 world-renowned poets and has a huge poetic family extending all over the globe.
Ilahn Sami Çomak’s poetry collection:
https://smokestack-books.co.uk/book.php?book=223: Free the Kurdish poet Ilhan Sami ÇomakListen to Caroline Stockford speaking about Ilhan Sami Çomak on 11 March 2024 in London:
