RSS Feed
May 12th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : A chief public prosecutor in Istanbul, on May 11, issued arrest warrants for two historians for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The “incident” sparked a hysteric debate and of course, more crackdowns on media.
An investigation was launched into Süleyman Yesilyurt for allegedly “insulting Atatürk’s memory”. The probe was launched by the Bakirköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office due to Yesilyurt’s comments on a TV program, while another investigation was launched into Hasan Akar for his comments on Atatürk’s mother.
A group of historians had called the wrath of the prosecutor upon themselves due to apparently semi-blasphemous statements on Atatürk and family in a TV show and in social media. Why semi-blasphemous? Because, believe it or not, many Turks view the founder of the Turkish republic as a kind of demigod whose word is gospel. That includes the “one Turkish culture fits all doctrin” that among others denies the existence of Kurds with the exception of contexts when one can denounce them as terrorists.
The apparently disgruntled prosecutor Ertugrul Sariyar demanded the arrest warrants for the pair. Yesilyurt, the host of a TV show called “Derin Tarih” (Deep History) on private television stations TVnet, claimed in a May 6 broadcast that Atatürk’s foster child, Afet İnan, was his illegitimate wife. This statement by the historian added to another controversial claim by Akar, a commentator who posts videos online, who said “Atatürk was an illegitimate child.”
Of course, whether or not these claims are right or wrong, one should presume that such academic disputes can be settled in peer reviewed literature after studying the archives and other original sources – but – it is Turkey – so the prosecutor and the judge will be in charge of settling academic disputes. An order for Yesilyurt and Akar to be detained was given to the police by the prosecutor’s office.
Turkey’s demi god Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
Meanwhile, the suspects were not found at their addresses and who would blame them for wanting to become “fugitives from justice – Turkish style”. The warrant written by Sariyar said the two were being detained on grounds of “existing evidences proving their crime,” “insulting the founder of the country,” and “inciting hatred among the public.”
After the blasphemous claims stirred outrage on social media, the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office filed an official complaint against Yesilyurt, as well as commentators Mustafa Armagan and Yavuz Bahadir, for “defamation.” That is right – defamation of the dead Atatürk – long live the Turkey’s Necrocraty.
Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Binali Yildırım and European Union Minister Ömer Celik – both known for valuing freedom of expression and media – also reacted harshly, some say hysterically to the comments on the TV show, saying they strongly condemned them. A day earlier, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroğlu said the owners of the claims “are not even human.” He did not go as far as demanding that the blasphemous historians be fed to the (gray) wolves.
But of course, there is the media watch-dog RTÜK so who needs wolves. The TV show and a magazine that goes by the same name also attracted harsh reactions, with the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) deciding to impose heavy penalties on TVnet. In the event of a recurrence of a similar incident, the TV could be removed from the air.
RTÜK fined the TV channel the maximum amount possible, 5 percent of its advertisement revenue.
In addition, Nezih Kitapevi, Remzi, D&R and Migros decided to remove the “Derin Tarih” magazine from their shelves. In a statement, Nezih Kitapevi thanked social media users for requesting that they remove the magazine from their stores. Arı İnan, Afet İnan’s daughter, meanwhile, said she would not file a complaint. She told reporters: “Everyone knows who Afet İnan is and what she did. What else can be discussed? These people are out of their minds. What they did is nonsense. What can I do to these people? I can’t bother with ignorant people. They want to create a sensation.”
Some say all of this is laughable but it’s not a laughing matter when academic freedom and freedom of expression in Turkey is threatened – again. Others say that it is the new normal – but stress that that doesn’t mean that one has to accept the status quo without challenging it. One may recall the words of Albert Camus who said that a free press can, of course, be god or bad, but that it, absent freedom, cannot be anything but bad.
CH/L- nsnbc 11.05.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/05/11/academic-freedom-turkish-style-prosecutor-issued-arrest-warrants-for-historians-who-criticized-ataturk/
Posted in 
Tags: 
