Ayten Öztürk, a socialist and courageous revolutionary woman from Turkey, was abducted by the Turkish secret service on 8 March 2018 and held in a secret torture centre for 6 months. She persevered and survived. The torturers abandoned her in a remote location, where she was then picked up by ‘uniformed men’ within a few minutes ‘as if by chance’. The arbitrariness of the Turkish authorities has continued ever since: First 3.5 years in prison, then house arrest and finally imprisonment again, the time of her ‘disappearance’ under torture remained unquestioned.
Ayten recorded what had happened to her in a book. She has not stopped exposing the systematic torture in Turkey on the basis of her own and other experiences and has continued to fight for justice. That is why Ayten Öztürk is to be silenced and so she was sentenced to double life imprisonment on the basis of unproven allegations. The case is currently before the Turkish Constitutional Court. Ayten is in prison: innocent, without evidence, as punishment for her unbending stance.
Her book, in which she recorded her painful experiences and her daily resistance to them, was initially met with state censorship and a ban, as expected, but was successfully fought against. The book is now also available in German and some copies will be available locally.
We will read some passages from the book and show the film “The Ayten Revolution ’ by the Italian journalist Eliana Riva, who visited Ayten in house arrest in Istanbul for months and documented her story. Both the director of the film, Eliana Riva, and Ayten’s lawyer, Doga Incesu, will join us live at the event.
The event is a necessary act of solidarity to stop this injustice, condemn the torture and demand a fair trial that will result in Ayten’s release…
Tuesday 29.10.2024 | 19:00
Amerlinghaus, Stiftgasse 8, 1070 Vienna Große Galerie
Justice Committee for Ayten Öztürk
@FreeAytenOzturk
