Ragip Zarakolu, the human rights activist and publisher now imprisoned in Turkey after being arrested on November 1, 2011, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Members of Parliament of the Swedish Left Party Amineh Kakabaveh, Jens Holm, Bengt Berg, Siv Holma, Marianne Berg and deputies of the Green Party Jan Lindholm and Valter Mutt applied to the Nobel Prize Committee in Oslo to nominate Zarakolu.

The Swedish parliamentarians noted the several awards given to publisher, writer and human rights advocator Zarakolu for his efforts to defend freedom of the press and speech in Turkey.

They point out that Zarakolu became a target of the state due to his efforts. "If Turkey established a commission on law and reconciliation one day, Zarakolu should become head of this commission", the deputies stated.

Ragip Zarakolu was arrested on 1 November 2011 in the context of an operation against the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK), an organization founded by Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union and other countries.