Assassins Of The Turquoise Palace (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
A story of crime and international intrigue, made all the more compelling because it is true. Roya Hakakian, a poet long before she turned to reporting, writes with beauty and grace as she unveils the account of a political assassination that was ordered by the supreme ruler of Iran and carried out on German soil. What emerges is a work of compelling literary journalism wherein she compassionately recounts the events of a mass shooting that left four dead, its impacts on the survivors and the family of one of its victims, the dogged work of a German prosecutor, the honesty of the presiding judge, and the reactions of Iranian exiles who never doubted where ultimate responsibility for the crime rested. Hakakian even demonstrates compassion for the assassins themselves without ever absolving them of their guilt for their involvement. And she accomplishes all of this in a swift moving, compact book that will leave readers unable to set it down. Not a word is wasted in this remarkably well-composed little volume. If I could give it ten stars I would. There is a spectrum of political assassination from the fanatic inspired by incendiary rhetoric to the targeting of an individual by a governmental agency. ASSASSINS OF THE TURQUOISE PALACE reaches far beyond that spectrum. Most are aware of and were appalled by the fatwa declared against novelist Salman Rushdie in 1988. That highly publicized event was only a small part of a litany of terrorism orchestrated by the highest Iranian political authorities – a reign of terror waged in Paris, London, Washington DC, Vienna, and Berlin. Regular meetings that included the Grand Ayatollah, the president, the foreign minister, the minister of intelligence, and the chief of the Revolutionary Guards targeted names from an official list, and supplied cash, weapons and operatives. This went far beyond “government-sponsored” terror.Hakkakian's book chronicles the aftermath of the assassination of Sadegh Sharafkandi the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, and Noori Dehkordi an activist Kurdish Iranian exile, and two other Kurdish political figures on September 17, 1992 in the Mykonos, a Berlin restaurant owned by another Iranian expatriot. Several stories unfold. First, there is the traumatizing effect on Noori Dehkordi's wife and daughter. A close friend of Noori's, Parviz Dastmalchi, survives the shooting and deals with his conflicted feelings of duty to his dead friend's memory and the trauma of his own near assassination. The German investigation is led by Bruno Jost of the German Federal prosecutor's office. He at first believes the assassination is the result of a violent schism between Kurdish separatist groups. The sizeable ex-patriot community in Berlin reacts with outrage at the government's low profile investigation, and their own growing mistrust of each other as they realize that an insider must have been involved in the assassinations. Officially, the German government is eager to fill the vaccuum left by the American embargo of Iran. To that end it desires a role in affecting the outcome of the investigation – an outcome that excludes investigation of the Iranian government. The role of the media in shaping public opinion is yet another part of the story. Hakakain skillfully modulates these competing viewpoints – the emotionalism of the personally grief-stricken, the procedural details of the German investigation, and the political landscape of Iran and Europe. I must admit that I was most engaged by the human elements of ASSASSINS. Noori Dehkordi's widow Shohreh receives death threats. Parviz goes into social seclusion, partly because friends are afraid of becoming collateral damage if seen with him. On the occasion of a rare acceptance of a dinner invitation from a friend, Parviz receives a threatening phone call at his friend's home. The German Federal prosecutors also receive death threats. The author, however, wisely refocuses our attention on broader issues. The exodus from Iran did not begin with Khomeini; it began in 1955 with the American sponsored coup which put the Shah in power. By 1992 there were nearly a million expatriates. In the political landscape, however, those numbers were easily dismissed. When the investigation begins to name the government of Iran as a suspect, Jost's superior, Alexander von Stahl, is first reprimanded by the Justice Department, and ultimately fired. Jost receives calls from colleagues admonishing him that his persistence is a bad career move. The German government, like the rest of Europe, wanted hostages released, the safety of their nationals in Iran guaranteed, and lucrative business contracts. “Europe accepted Tehran's math: dozens of dead Iranian exiles equaled one free European citizen.” This is a significant book. It gives us a glimpse of a lifetime spent in the shadow of terror, and the face of true courage.
What do You think about Assassins Of The Turquoise Palace (2011)?
Simplistic, journalistic and well reported. A good read for a difficult and terroristic event.
—Gjcollyard
For those interested in how Iran takes care of its political critics, interesting read.
—Sadari380
A facinating story beautifully written.
—jmcbride1201
