Mehmed Uzun was charged several times in Turkey due to his activities in the field of Kurdish literature . He was arrested on March 21, 1976 as managing editor of a Kurdish-Turkish magazine, and was accused of "separatism" and jailed in Ankara's central prison. During his trial in the summer of 1976, he attempted to prove the existence of the Kurds and the Kurdish language. The prosecutor's argument was that the Kurds and their language had no form of existence. Anyone claiming the opposite was considered a separatist and deserved to be punished. He was sentenced to eight months in prison. After release, he was still under the threat of indictment on account of his responsibilities as editor of the aforementioned magazine, and consequently he chose exile and left for Sweden in 1977. The regulations prevailing in Turkey at the time made return to his native country impossible.