Turkey's art world continues to resist, despite all difficulties

"We have to say art against all odds," said veteran journalist Doğan Hızlan, while commenting on Turkey's art scene, which has been struggling with multiple challenges, from terrorism to government pressure, political turmoil and economic crisis. "Yunus Emre says, 'Each moment we get born anew; who can get tired of us?' Turkey is like a phoenix. You get reborn from the ashes. In a country like that, this is what you do," the 69-year-old Hızlan told the Daily News 

Turkish officials claim that in contrast to previous coups, the daily lives of ordinary people have not been affected, despite the state of emergency declared after the July 15 failed coup. What is your view in terms of Turkey's art scene?

Do we have to understand it as if people have gotten used to coups or do they want to give the message that daily activities continue unabated after the coup? This is very controversial. There is another dimension to the state of emergency: There are so many people being suspended or dismissed, jailed writers for instance. 

Apparently what seems to not change is the pressure on artists and writers after coups. 

I have lived through all past coups (in Turkey's history). The (late) Bülent Tanör (an academic on constitutional law) did not call the May 27 (takeover by the military in 1960) a coup. It was followed by a relatively freer liberal environment. A lot of books started to be published after May 27, even those based on Marxist critics. A lot of translations were published. 

We had to live through March 12 (1971) to really see how bad coups are. I was then at the Altın Kitaplar (Golden Books) publishing house. A lot of our colleagues were investigated; a lot of books were destroyed. The Sept. 12 (1980) coup on the other hand...