Turkish-German writer and human rights activist Dogan Akhanli will open this year’s European Tolerance Talks on May 17, 2018 in Fresach. Last year, Akhanli was arrested in Spain on the grounds of a Turkish Interpol warrant and released only after weeks of federal intervention in Berlin. Akhanli will dedicate his speech on the theme “Longing for Europe: On the Search for Paradise Lost”. He is already looking forward to the days in Carinthia, the writer said in a first reaction. Akhanli, born in 1957, has been committed to the indivisibility of human rights and the honest handling of historical violence, oppression and political persecution since his youth. At age 18, he was in custody for the first time. After 1985, he spent over two and a half years in a military prison of Istanbul. In 1991 he received political asylum in Germany, since 1995 he lives in Cologne. In 2010, he was arrested on arrival in Turkey on false charges and detained for months. His award-winning work includes novels, plays and essays, some of which are available in German. http://bit.ly/2GaA4Ls
