Solidarity and support to our Turkish colleague
Musa Kart
Turkey's best-known political cartoonists have gathered in Istanbul to protest
at legal action taken by the prime minister against artists who criticized him
through their work.
Members of the Turkish Cartoonists Association accuse Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan of trying to stifle free expression, even as Turkey is preparing
to launch talks to win membership in the European Union.
"We cartoonists have long faced pressure from politicians," Metin Peker, the
association's president, said. "Just as we thought those dark days were over, we
have been confronted with this."
Mr. Peker was referring to a defamation suit filed recently by Mr. Erdogan against
Musa Kart, a cartoonist for the secular daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. Mr. Kart was
fined $US3,500 ($A4,450) by an Ankara court last week on charges of assailing
Mr.
Erdogan's honor in a cartoon that depicted him as a cat enmeshed in a ball of
wool.
The work was published by Cumhuriyet in May, when the Turkish leader proposed
legislation that would allow graduates of Islamic clerical training schools to
enter secular universities. In the cartoon, Mr. Erdogan says in part: "Do not
create tensions."
Turkish secularists accused the former Islamist leader of doing just that by
trying to increase the role of Islam in public life. The bill was rejected by
the country's secularist president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Mr. Kart denies that he
insulted Mr. Erdogan. "I was merely trying to show that he had become trapped in
his own rhetoric," Mr. Kart said on Wednesday, adding that he would appeal the
verdict.
Mr. Erdogan filed a similar suit against cartoonist Sefer Selvi, of the
left-leaning daily Evrensel, who drew the prime minister as a horse being led by
one of his advisers. Mr. Selvi was also convicted and fined.
Western observers say such moves fly in the face of Mr. Erdogan's efforts to lead
Turkey into the EU. Since coming to power two years ago, he has pushed through a
blizzard of reforms aimed at winning support in the European community. The
moves have included scrapping prison sentences for journalists expressing
dissident views and expanding free speech protections.
Since taking office, however, Mr. Erdogan has filed more than 50 cases against
journalists and cartoonists accused of defaming him, media lawyers say.