Writer Erdogan has been acquitted of a terrorist trial, but still fears President Erdogan

A Istanbul court has surprisingly cleared writer Asli Erdogan of terror offenses she has been charged with, but she dares not return to her exile in Germany. She said authorities will only reveal an excuse to arrest her again. "Fascist system, far beyond dictatorship"

Writer Erdogan has been acquitted of a terrorist trial, but still fears President Erdogan

Turkish writer Asli Erdogan is anxious to return to her country, even after her surprising acquittal last week. The esteemed author, whose works have been translated into 21 languages, spent four months in prison in 2016 on suspicion of connections with the Kurdish underground.

After her release, she left for Germany in 2017, immediately after receiving her passport back. Since then, she has lived in exile, and her life sentence has been suspended. "In all honesty, I was very surprised. Almost everyone in my conviction saw something that was obvious, she told the French news agency." I can't believe it anymore, but if not, there will be another case. "

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Afraid to return to Turkey. Asli Erdogan at a ceremony in Paris, 2018 (Photo: Reuters)

Writer Asli Erdogan at an awards ceremony at the Ministry of Culture in Paris, France, March 16, 2018 (Photo: Reuters)

Erdogan, who is not a relative of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was indicted on charges of terrorist organization and violating state unity by a Istanbul court, when the charge against her for distributing terrorist propaganda was canceled. She said she was on trial only because her name appeared in reading recommendations in the pro-Kurdish newspaper "Uzgor Gundam," which has since closed. "The charges were in establishing an army for the destruction of the state. How does this relate to the newspaper?", She asked.

In Germany, she underwent double surgery after intestinal muscle paralysis, a condition that doctors say was caused by post-trauma. "At 52, I became ill with a disease that needed to appear in the 1980s," she said. She added that her time in prison also played a role in making her situation worse. However, she said the thing she longed for was access to her library in Turkey. "The 3,500-book library is my only asset in the world. (Without it) I feel as if my limbs have been damaged."

However, she has no plans to return to her homeland because the authorities may be caught for anything she says to accuse her of further offenses, with consequences that have deadly potential. "Another arrest means death to me. Under the circumstances, I can't go back," she said.

"Erdogan's real enemy is himself, Turkey will collapse into itself"

Thousands have been arrested since the failed coup attempt. Erdogan (Photo: Reuters)

Turkish President Erdogan at Istanbul Press Conference February 3, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Since the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, tens of thousands of people, including academics and journalists, have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the pooch. Erdogan's opponents accuse him of taking advantage of the events to silence them, but the government says widespread cleansing is needed to get rid of the same network that allegedly planned the coup.

Erdogan said she can no longer feel the turmoil in Turkey like before, but she believes the political atmosphere is getting worse. "I used to talk to sellers in stores or people on the bus or the metro. It fed me as a writer, but this channel is now interrupted. But I have the impression that there is silence in Turkey," she warned.

She described the Toki political system as "fascist, neo-fascist" and cited the prolonged arrest of author Ahmet Altan and businessman and philanthropist Osman Kabala, who testified that the situation had deteriorated "far beyond dictatorship." She added: "I don't know for sure what's going on behind closed doors, but such senseless cases have no other explanation. I see them as part of a strategy."