Kurdish writer Suzan Samancı given travel ban after returning to Turkey 10 years later

Samancı, a member of PEN Writers Association, has mainly lives in Switzerland after she left Diyarbakır in 2008.

24.09.2026

Bia News Desk

Source: https://bianet.org/haber/kurdish-writer-suzan-samanci-given-travel-ban-after-returning-to-turkey-10-years-later-323740

Kurdish writer, poet and short-story author Suzan Samancı was detained at İstanbul Airport yesterday over an allegation of "making propaganda for a terorist organization" after returning to Turkey for the first time in about 10 years.

Samancı, who has lived mainly in Switzerland since 2008, was later released under judicial control with a ban on leaving the country.

After procedures at the airport, Samancı appeared by video link before a judge in Diyarbakır. The judgeship approved the prosecutor's request for judicial control and imposed the travel ban.

Her lawyer and human rights defender Eren Keskin announced the detention on social media.

About Suzan Samancı

Samancı, 64, began her literary career with poetry in the 1980s before turning mainly to short stories and novels.

Her works include the short-story collections "Eriyip Gidiyor Gece," "Reçine Kokuyordu Hêlîn," "Kıraç Dağlar Kar Tuttu" and "Suskunun Gölgesinde," as well as the novels "Korkunun Irmağında," "Halepçe'den Gelen Sevgili" and "Koca Karınlı Kent."

"Kıraç Dağlar Kar Tuttu" won second prize in the 1997 Orhan Kemal Short Story Competition. Her story "Perili Kent" placed among the top 25 in a Deutsche Welle competition and was published in German and Turkish. "İki Anne" was translated into English and published by International PEN.

Samancı is a member of the Writers' Union of Turkey and PEN Writers Association. Her works have been translated into several languages, including German, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, French, English, Arabic and Sorani Kurdish.

After writing mainly in Turkish for many years, Samancı later turned to Kurdish literature. Her first book written directly in Kurdish, "Ew Jin û Mêrê Bi Maske," was published in 2015. It was followed by the novel "Mirzayê Reben" in 2019, "Çîrokên Jinên Dilşikestî" in 2021 and the Kurdish novel "Payiz an jî Ziyab" in 2024.

Her writing has frequently focused on the effects of conflict, forced migration, political pressure and violence on everyday life in Diyarbakır and Kurdish-populated areas.

(AEK/VK)