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The Belge Publishing House, established in Istanbul in 1977 by Ayşe Nur Zarakolu and Ragıp Zarakolu, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws ever since. Charges brought against the couple resulted in imprisonment for both Ayşe Nur and Ragıp Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of books and the imposition of heavy fines. Until the military coup of 12 September 1980 Belge Publishing House mostly published academic and theoretical books. Afterwards Belge started to publish a series of books written by political prisoners consisted of poems, shorts stories, novels. The list of publications include translations of Greek literature, books on the Armenian Question, books related to the Jews and also books dealing with the Kurds and Kurd Question in Turkey. The Belge Publishing House and it founders Ayşe Nur and Ragıp Zarakolu received multiple recognitions from the Turkish Publishers Association, Human Rights Watch and International PEN. Ayse Nur Zarakolu received the 1997 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Also in 1998, Ayse Nur Zarakolu was honored by the International Publishers Association with an inaugural International Freedom to Publish Award at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In September 2008, the same organization awarded Ragıp Zarakolu the 2008 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize. Ragıp Zarakolu was given the NOVIB/PEN Free Expression Award in 2003. In 2012 the Assyrian Culture Centre in Stockholm, Sweden, granted the Assyrian Cultural Award to Ragıp Zarakolu. Also Ragıp Zarakolu was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 by Swedish parliamentarians and academics in Paris. Human Rights Association of Turkey (Turkish İnsan Hakları Derneği - İHD) bestows the Ayşe Zarakolu Freedom of Thought prize in her honor, annually.