The administration of a high-security prison in the eastern province of Van launched an investigation into jailed Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent for a world map depicting Turkey as smaller than its actual size, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The map was on the cover of a German grammar textbook that belonged to Türfent, who has been in jail since March 2016 for his reports on clashes that had escalated between the Turkish army and Kurdish insurgents in cities and towns in southeastern Turkey.
The book was found in Türfent’s prison cell in September by guards during a routine search. Prison officials asked the administration to impose a disciplinary punishment on the journalist, saying Turkey on the map was smaller than it should be.
Asked to submit a defense to the prison administration, Türfent said he used the book to improve his German.
The officials in charge of the disciplinary investigation also tracked down the publishing house that printed the book and concluded that the size of Turkey could have been made smaller in error as the map on the back cover was small in scale. The disciplinary committee decided Türfent did not engage in a criminal act by keeping the book and ruled against any disciplinary punishment.
