Below is a translation of an obituary which appeared in several newspapers in Germany. It was issued by the Family and Friends of Doğan Akhanlı, as well as civil society, human rights, cultural and religious associations, including from the Armenian, German, Greek, Jewish, Kurdish and Turkish communities.
Doğan Akhanlı
March 18, 1957 – October 31, 2021
The “Magic of Solidarity” was something incredibly real for Doğan Akhanlı. He lent it verbal shape. For him, its existence was a source of patience, impatience and hope. It protected him against animosity and he was sure that it had carried him out of prison in 2010 and 2017. But it was not able to save him from death. Doğan Akhanlı succumbed to cancer on October 31st.
He had not fallen for the delusion that violence could be eliminated from the world. But, when faced with violence wielded by state power which claimed for itself a higher form of necessity, he took it on – all his life: politically, personally and through his writings. In so doing he also denounced the mercilessness in political organizations he came from. He was convinced that disputes among those who fought against arbitrary rule, nationalism and racism could be overcome. The magic of solidarity should also embrace us – that was his credo.
He charted a new, irreversible course in the culture of remembrance, in commemorating the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. He stood on the side of persecuted human rights activists, especially in Turkey, Kurds, refugees and undocumented immigrants.
