October 7, 2026
Avesta Publishing House Receives 2026 AAP International Freedom to Publish Award
Becomes First Publisher to Receive the Award Twice
Today, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) awarded Avesta Publishing House, based in Turkey, the 2026 AAP International Freedom to Publish Award. The award recognizes a publisher outside of the United States who has demonstrated courage and fortitude in defending freedom of expression.
Previously, Avesta was the 2005 Freedom to Publish Award recipient, and in 2019 the house was honored in the “Publisher” category of the Turkish Publishers Association’s “Freedom of Thought and Expression Awards.” In the years since these awards, Avesta has continued to operate under extremely difficult conditions, including threats, lawsuits and harassment. As a result, this award reflects the core values of AAP’s Freedom to Publish Award by recognizing a truly indefatigable dedication to publishing.
“AAP first recognized Avesta’s extraordinary contributions a little over twenty years ago and despite continuous threats and intimidation since that time their commitment to publishing has only grown stronger,” commented Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO, Association of American Publishers. “We are moved to celebrate Avesta’s brave, decades-long struggle because it underscores an essential fact: the battle for free expression is central to freedom more generally but is never truly won. It must be fought over and over, day by day, and decade after decade. On behalf of AAP’s Board of Directors, membership, and staff, I thank Avesta’s leadership and entire team for setting the standard for bravery, stamina and determination.”
“On behalf of Avesta, we thank AAP’s President, Board and staff for this extraordinary gesture,” commented Abdullah Keskin, the founder of Avesta. “Receiving AAP’s Freedom to Publish Award for the second time provides an enormous boost to our mission of encouraging Kurdish literature, research and culture, casting a bright light that will illuminate our way forward on the long road ahead.”
About Avesta Publishing House
Founded in Istanbul in 1995 with the motto “In Search of Lost Cultures,” Avesta Publishing House has published more than 900 books in multiple languages, focusing on works of Kurdish literature and research on the history and traditions of the Kurdish people. Between 1997 and 2007, Avesta faced several lawsuits in Turkey’s State Security Courts for roughly twenty of its publications, some of which were banned. In 2016, its warehouse in Sur/Diyarbakır was sabotaged, resulting in over 3,000 books being burned or rendered unusable and the bookstore being closed. In 2023, their website was banned on false claims of “terrorist propaganda.” Between 2017 and 2025, more than 20 of their books were banned by local courts.
Sample Titles
Burhan’s Book: I Left My Soul in That Land by Hüseyin Kalkan whom, after receiving threats for his reporting, was shot in the neck and paralyzed. In 2025, the Diyarbakır 2nd Magistrates’ Court (Sulh Ceza Hakimliği) banned Burhan’s Book: I Left My Soul in That Land along with four other books, ordering a moratorium on the printing, distribution, and sale of titles, along with the confiscation and seizure of all existing copies.
Martyrs, Traitors and Patriots – Kurdistan from the Gulf War to the Present Day by Sheri Laizer, against which the Mersin 3rd Criminal Court of Peace issued a ban and seizure decision 2017.
The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage and Justice, by American author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and published in Turkish translation by Avesta, which has faced multiple ban and seizure orders.
About the AAP International Freedom to Publish Award
Established in 2002, AAP’s International Freedom to Publish Award recognizes a publisher outside the United States who has demonstrated courage and fortitude in defending freedom of expression. In bestowing the award, AAP is guided by the principle that if one of us is denied the right to publish that threat affects us all. Previous recipients of the award include Freedom Letters, a Russian and Ukrainian language publisher in 2025, Januškevič Publishing House, a Belarusian publisher that now operates from Poland in 2024, Venezuela-based Editorial Dahbar in 2022, Guatemala-based F&G Editores in 2021, and Bangladesh-based Jagriti Publishing House in 2020. In 2023, we did not specify one publisher, instead dedicating the award to publishing houses from around the world that face government pressure, harassment, and threats.
About AAP
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) represents the leading book, journal, and education publishers in the United States on matters of law and policy, advocating for outcomes that incentivize the publication of creative and intellectual expression in support of a vibrant, imaginative, and informed democracy. As essential participants in local markets and the global economy, our members invest in and inspire the exchange of ideas, transforming the world we live in one word at a time. AAP members include large, small, independent, educational, and scholarly houses who collectively publish the world’s preeminent authors, including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Newbery Medal, Man Booker Prize, Caldecott Medal, and Nobel Prize. Learn more at publishers.org.