PEN American Center has named Ayşe Berktay, a translator, writer, and activist in Turkey, as the recipient of its 2013 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. 

Activist Berktay was arrested on 14 September 2011 in the scope of a so-called KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) operation and is currently being tried for “membership in an illegal organization”.

“Ayşe Berktay is a brave, clear, passionate voice for women’s rights and cultural rights in Turkey, and she absolutely should not be in prison,” said PEN American Center President Peter Godwin and remarked that  “As a translator and as a peaceful activist, her life has been shaped by the desire to bridge cultures and convey truths that challenge official orthodoxies and histories".

Godwin underlined that “ That this could be somehow labeled terrorism reveals a great deal about Turkey today—a country that, despite so much progress in so many areas, is now prosecuting scores of writers and journalists, most of them on specious terrorism charges. This award, which honors Ayşe Berktay’s courage, signals PEN’s determination to reverse this disturbing trend. The Turkish government can begin by arranging her immediate release.”

The award, which honors international writers who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN's Annual Gala on April 30, 2013, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.