Türkiye: Lift travel ban imposed on PEN member Suzan Samancı

‘We stand by PEN member Suzan Samancı, who has suffered years of harassment in Türkiye, and is now being prevented from returning to Switzerland, where she has lived for 18 years, on ludicrous grounds. We urge the authorities of Türkiye to ensure Samancı can travel freely. It is high time the authorities end the use of counter-terrorism laws to target peaceful voices,’ said Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.

05 October 2026 – The authorities of Türkiye must immediately lift the travel ban imposed on renowned Kurdish writer and PEN member Suzan Samancı and drop bogus terror charges against her, PEN International said today. The organisation further reiterates calls on the authorities to stop using overbroad counter-terrorism laws to curb peaceful expression – both online and offline.  

On 22 September 2026, Suzan Samancı was detained by police at Istanbul airport. She appeared before a judge in Diyarbakır via the video-conferencing system SEGBİS. Samancı told PEN International she was charged with ‘making propaganda for a terrorist organisation’ over her social media posts dating back to 2014, including in support of Kurdish rights. Samancı was subsequently released and placed under a travel ban. Based in Switzerland since 2008, Samancı had not been back to Türkiye since the failed coup attempt of July 2016 and the crackdown that ensued. She was travelling to seek the removal of a passport restriction that has caused difficulties with her Swiss residency.

Suzan Samancı told PEN International she has been repeatedly targeted by the authorities of Türkiye on account of her Kurdish identity and writings throughout the years, including through judicial harassment and threats of violence. The Consulate of Türkiye in Geneva has refused to renew her passport since 2023, leaving her requests for information unanswered.

As documented by PEN International, several Kurdish writers have been prosecuted on similar trumped-up terror propaganda grounds for their writings and social media posts in recent years. PEN International and partners have repeatedly called on the authorities of Türkiye to stop the systematic harassment and intimidation of Kurdish writers, journalists, media outlets, the lawyers who defend them, and Kurdish politicians. However, the Turkish authorities’ crackdown on Kurdish and opposition voices continues unabated, despite ongoing negotiations aimed at building a sustainable peace.

Additional information

Suzan Samancı, born on 20 September 1962, is an award-winning writer from Diyarbakır, south-eastern Turkey. She published her first poems in the magazine Sanat Olayı in 1985. From 1995 to 2011, she worked as a columnist for the newspapers Demokrasi, Gündem, Özgür Politika and Taraf, focusing on art, aesthetics, women’s rights and Kurdish rights. She achieved her first literary success following the publication of Reçine kokuyordu Helîn (Hêlin smells like resin) in 1993. Her stories have been translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Swedish, French and Kurdish; she has been writing in her mother tongue, Kurdish, since 2015. Her latest novel, Payiz A n ji Ziyab, was published by Avesta in 2024. She is a member of Kurdish PEN and PEN Suisse Romand.

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