Pontos Kültürü

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pontos Kültürü (ISBN 975-344-220-3 for the 2nd edition) (Pontos Culture in English) is a Turkish book by Turkish author Ömer Asan. The book was published by Belge Yayınları of Ragip Zarakolu in 1996. It made a Greek edition (Ο Πολιτισμóς του Πóντου by Kyriakidis Publishers, Thessaloniki) in 1997, followed by a second Turkish edition in 2000.

Pontos Kültürü is about the Greek Muslims who live in Trabzon Province. It is, to a great extent, the result of the ethnographic fieldwork by Asan in his native village Çoruk (Τσορούκ, official Turkish name "Erenköy") in Of district. It contains a rich collection of oral traditions, local legends (such as Ancomah), and documentation of elements of material culture in Çoruk and its vicinity. The book is also a study of Pontic in its Of dialect. As the author asserts in its foreword, "the book does not reach the Pontos Culture but approaches it." In its entirety, the book is also a polemical text against the mainstream nationalist currents of folklore and historiography that are dominant in Turkey.

In January 2002, following a programme televised on the Turkish TV ATV, the book became the centre of controversy. Asan, blamed for treason by nationalistic circles, was threatened by supporters of MHP. The book was banned the same month due to a verdict by the State Security Court in Istanbul [1]. Asan was charged with allegations of the breach of Anti-Terrorism Law by "propagandating separatism" [2]. The author, the book, and the publisher were eventually acquitted in 2003 [3].