Turkish writer Elif Shafak opened up about her country at the London Book Festival saying Turkey has finally begun to find its literary voice.

This year's London Book Fair focused majorly on Turkey and the country's writer Elif Shafak feels that Turkey has finally begun to find its literary voice. Shafak reveals that as a Turkish writer in England she often comes across two questions about her country - "Are women equal to me?" and "Are words free?" According to the writer, both questions have the same answer - "Yes and no."

She says that her country is filled with colors, contrasts and conflicts. She also reveals that it's a common joke for them to compare their progress and modernity to the Mehter - the Ottoman military band that once inspired western classical composers such as Mozart. She says the Band marched two steps forward and one backwards, quite similar to what Turkey is going through now.

'The country is going through a historical transformation. The conflict with the Kurdish separatists, which killed more than 40,000 people and traumatized many more, is being resolved," says Shafak.  "Until recently, this would have been a dream. Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan and the AK Party have taken considerable political risks to authorize negotiations with the jailed Kurdish leader Abduallah Öcalan. They have been aided by the fact that, increasingly, more people on both sides are tired of violence and antagonism."

The writer says that obscenity trials are one of the hurdles writers and artists face in Turkey. The Turkish publication of Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Snuff", rendered "Death Porn" in Turkish, saw both its translator and publisher in court. The publication of a translation of "The Soft Machine" by William Burroughs was accused of obscenity, but the trial was postponed.