阿维斯塔出版社因其对库尔德文化的坚守而受到美国出版商协会的表彰。
Avesta Publishing House is being honored by the Association of American Publishers for its dedication to Kurdish culture.
纽约希勒尔以色列组织讯——一家土耳其出版社因其长期支持库尔德文化而遭受政府审查和骚扰，如今却获得了美国出版商协会的表彰。
HILLEL ITALIE NEW YORK — A Turkish publishing house with a long history of enduring government censorship and harassment over its championing of Kurdish culture is being honored by the Association of American Publishers.
美国出版商协会（AAP）于周三宣布，阿维斯塔出版社荣获该行业协会今年的“国际出版自由奖”。该奖项旨在表彰非美国出版机构“在捍卫言论自由方面所展现的勇气与坚韧”。阿维斯塔出版社曾在2005年也获得过该奖项。
The AAP announced Wednesday that Avesta Publishing House was this year’s winner of the trade association’s International Freedom to Publish Award, given to a non-U. S. publisher for “courage and fortitude in defending freedom of expression.”Avesta also received the award in 2005.
美国出版商协会主席兼首席执行官玛丽亚·A·帕兰特在一份声明中表示：“20多年前，美国出版商协会首次认可了阿维斯塔出版社的非凡贡献。尽管此后他们持续面临威胁与恐吓，但其对出版事业的承诺却愈发坚定。我们深感荣幸，能够庆祝阿维斯塔出版社数十年来英勇的抗争，因为这凸显了一个至关重要的事实：争取言论自由的斗争不仅是更广泛自由的核心，而且永远无法真正终结。”
“AAP first recognized Avesta’s extraordinary contributions a little over 20 years ago and despite continuous threats and intimidation since that time their commitment to publishing has only grown stronger,” AAP President and CEO Maria A. Pallante said in a statement. “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.”
库尔德人是土耳其最大的少数民族，长期以来，他们一直在争取自治权以及在教育和公共服务中更广泛使用其语言等权利方面与政府斗争。
The Kurds are Turkey’s largest ethnic minority and have long battled with the government over self-determination and such rights as broader use of their language in education and public services.
阿维斯塔出版社成立于1995年，其使命是关注“濒临消失的文化”。该出版社已用多种语言出版了数百种书籍，内容多聚焦于库尔德文化。它曾遭遇过阿维斯塔仓库被焚毁、书籍被禁、网站被临时封锁等事件；2023年，其网站更被土耳其政府定性为“恐怖主义宣传工具”。
Avesta was founded in 1995 with a mission to draw attention to “lost cultures” and has published hundreds of books in various languages, often centered on the Kurds. It has faced everything from the burning of an Avesta warehouse to the banning of books and a temporary ban of their website, which in 2023 was labeled “terrorist propaganda” by the Turkish government.
阿维斯塔出版社创始人阿卜杜拉·凯斯金在一份声明中表示：“第二次荣获美国出版商协会的‘出版自由奖’，极大地鼓舞了我们推动库尔德文学、研究与文化的使命。这一荣誉如同一束明亮的光，将照亮我们漫长前行之路。”
“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,” Avesta founder Abdullah Keskin said in a statement.
2002年设立的AAP奖此前的获奖者包括位于委内瑞拉的Dahbar出版社，以及位于香港的出版商兼书商桂敏海。
Previous recipients of the AAP award, established in 2002, include the Venezuela-based Editorial Dahbar and the Hong Kong-based publisher and bookseller Gui Minhai.
去年，库尔德斯坦工人党这一激进组织宣布将结束其长期的叛乱活动并放下武器。此后，土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安批准了一项立法，为数千名库尔德武装分子提供赦免，但前提是土耳其当局核实他们已解除武装并解散组织。
Last year, the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party announced it would end its long insurgency and lay down its arms. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since approved legislation that offers a pardon for thousands of Kurdish militants, conditioned on Turkish authorities verifying they had disarmed and disbanded.
Avesta的一名发言人表示，他们尚未看到政府对待自己的方式有任何改变，但仍希望情况能够改善。
A spokesperson for Avesta said they had yet to see any changes in how the government has acted toward them, but was hopeful for improvement.