The writer could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison for charges relating to his 2014 book about a Kurdish man who flees Turkey, which was banned there last year

PEN International has called on Turkish authorities to drop “bogus” charges against the writer Yavuz Ekinci.

Ekinci, whose work focuses on the plight of Kurdish people in Turkey, has been charged with creating terrorist propaganda in relation to his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). He was charged under Article 7 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law No 3713, which is “routinely used to silence independent voices”, said PEN International on Monday. The charge carries up to seven-and-a-half years in prison.