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ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish bookshops have
a best seller, but some of them are hesitant about
giving it too much display.
It's "Mein Kampf."
The popularity of Adolf Hitler's book, filled with
anti-Jewish diatribes and dreams of world
domination, is puzzling some Turks. Does it reflect
rising anti-Semitic or anti-Western sentiment in
Muslim Turkey? Or anger over Israel's treatment of
the Palestinians and the war in Iraq? Is it a
backlash against the country's moves to join the
European Union? Or does it simply offer a cheap
thrill?
At least two new Turkish-language versions are out
in paperback and selling for as little as $4.50, but
they could run into legal trouble. They were printed
without the permission of the Finance Ministry of
the German state of Bavaria, which was given control
of Hitler's estate after World War II and is keen to
suppress the book.
German diplomats in Turkey have been told to explore
court action. "The book 'Mein Kampf' should not be
reprinted," says Bavarian Finance Minister Kurt
Faltlhauser. "The state of Bavaria administers the
copyright very restrictively to prevent an increase
of Nazi ideas."
Last month the ministry said it was seeking legal
action to stop the book's publication in Poland.
"Mein Kampf" - meaning "My Struggle," was written in
the 1920s and has long been widely available in Arab
countries, but no increase in sales has been noted
there lately. So Turkish analysts are hard put to
explain why tens of thousands of copies have been
sold here in recent months.
Lina Filiba, executive vice president of Turkey's
25,000-member Jewish community, called it
"disturbing."
She said price and media attention were major
factors, but also pointed to a "worrying trend" of
anti-Semitic publications such as "The Protocols of
the Elders of Zion" being sold even in bustling
department stores.
"Metal Storm" by Orkun Ucar and Burak Turna, a novel
imagining a war between Turkey and the United
States, is Turkey's top seller. Conspiracy theory
books sell well and the press is extremely critical
of the United States and Israel.
Filiba tied the phenomenon to the European Union's
Dec. 17 decision to open membership talks with
Turkey, a move long sought by Turkish governments
but unpopular among those who fear it will expose
their country to permissive European influences.
"I think there's an increase in anti-Semitic,
anti-American, and anti-foreigner feeling that has
paralleled Dec. 17," Filiba said.
Umit Ozdag, writing in the daily Aksam, worried that
Turks feel ill-treated by the West and are anxious
as ethnic Kurds in Turkey and neighboring Iraq are
increasingly assertive. Some Turks, he wrote, are
finding comfort in Hitler's claims that Germany lost
the first world war because of the Jews.
"Turks think they are being exploited. They are
angry with the demands of the European Union and
United States. But those who anger them the most are
Kurdish nationalists," he wrote. "Turks who think
they're are being stabbed in the back read Hitler.
That is a ... very dangerous development."
At least two publishing houses, Emre and Manifesto,
have released cheap versions of "Mein Kampf."
Oguz Tektas of Manifesto said it had sold at least
25,000 of its print run of 30,000.
"It has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. Our only
aim was commercial," Tektas said.
Esin Aka of the D and R bookshop chain said Thursday
that the Emre book, released five weeks ago, was No.
2 this week, after "Metal Storm." Senol Bilginan of
the Bilgi store in Ankara said it was No. 3.
"The price is of course low. And the fact that it
has been ordered confiscated in some countries also
helped," he said. "Everyone is buying it ... Young
people have an intense interest."
Still, it's not always easy to find. One D and R
shop in Istanbul buried it on a low shelf. The Dost
bookshop in Ankara put it on a high shelf, where the
cover featuring a saluting Hitler couldn't be seen.
The manager said he was selling about five books a
day and added he deliberately didn't put it on the
best-seller shelves.
"I saw the book on TV and got curious about Hitler's
life and decided to buy it," said Asli Ugur, 20, a
university student.
She also bought a book about Che Guevara.
AP
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