The play is remarkable not just for its trenchant treatment of human rights issues, but because it was written by the lawyer and social critic Esber Yagmurdereli, who happens to be a blind and bearded chain-smoker with long experience in Turkish prisons. Yagmurdereli was recently sentenced to another long jail term, but he was released after a wave of foreign and domestic criticism. For years a faceless prisoner, Yagmurdereli has suddenly become the most prominent figure in the human rights firmament here. In a situation that recalls the more highly publicized experiences of China's dissidents, his case reflects some of the contradictions of Turkish politics. Western governments criticize rights abuses in Turkey, but continue selling weapons to the security forces.
Critics openly damn the regime, but are often brought to trial for doing so.
Prisoners, including those convicted of aiding terrorism, are freed when foreign pressure demands it. Yagmurdereli's release, for example, came as the European Union was reviewing Turkey's application for membership and as Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz was preparing to visit Germany and the United States. Expression of one's thoughts is still an offense in Turkey. My release in this way does not mean the problem has been eliminated, and I will continue my struggle to resolve this problem as long as it exists. In Turkey as in other countries where human rights are at issue, protesters and their foreign supporters have always found it useful to single out a figure who crystallizes the debate.