"TURKEY: REVISITING A FLASHPOINT OF THE DEMOCRATIZATION PROCESS YIgal Schleifer 11/02/07
The most precious books in the one-room Umut bookshop, located in the southeastern Turkish city of Semdinli, are actually several volumes that have burnt edges and shredded covers smudged with soot. Kept in two brightly lit bookcases with glass doors, the books are the survivors of a grenade attack two years ago, the impact of which continues to be felt in the predominantly-Kurdish southeast region of Turkey. The charred books are displayed along with a teapot pierced by shrapnel, while two small craters on the floor, marking where the grenades exploded, have been left untouched, giving the place the feel of both a bookstore and memorial. This is exactly how its owner, Seferi Yilmaz, wants it to be."
More:EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Turkey: Revisiting a Flashpoint of the Democratization Process
