Amed, (Northern Kurdistan), Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Author Mehmed Uzun, considered
a founder of modern Kurdish literature, died of stomach cancer Thursday in this
southeast Turkish city (Northern Kurdistan), hospital sources said. He was 54.
Uzun, who spent 28 years in exile as a political refugee in Sweden.
Throughout his career, he came under attack from both Turkish nationalists for
refusing to describe himself as a Turk, and from Kurdish nationalists of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), whose violence he virulently condemned.
Uzun was diagnosed with stomach cancer more than two years ago while still in
Sweden, and received treatment there and in Amed, where he was hospitalized
Monday after his health deteriorated sharply, sources close to him said.
In addition to seven novels and a volume of poetry penned in his native Kurdish,
the prolific Uzun also wrote novels and essays in Swedish and Turkish.
He was a member of the executive board of the Swedish Writers' Union and of the
Swedish PEN Club.
