Caricaturist Behic Ak, who spoke to Bianet, said caricaturists, as well as journalists, constantly live through the problem of lack of freedom of expression in Turkey. He said there is a double censorship in Turkey.
Caricaturist Musa Kart and editor-in-chief Mehmet Sucu were fined a total of 5 billion Turkish lira ($3,800) for a caricature showing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a cat entangled in headscarf threads.
The caricature was published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper on May 9, 2005 in Kart's corner named, "Beyond the Boot." The caricature represented the much-debated Islamic high schools, or Imam Hatip.
Ak: "The caricature was taken as an insult, not a compliment"
There are two kinds of censorship in Turkey, according to Ak. One applied to newspapers, and one, which newspapers apply to themselves. "Censorship self-applied by newspapers, which have turned into corporations in Turkey, has alienated both journalists, and caricaturists," said Ak.
"While drawing someone as a cat could be seen as a compliment, it was taken as an insult," said caricaturist Ak. He said the conviction showed the degree of press freedom in Turkey.
"This shows, people are afraid of the smallest expression of thought, or joke," said Ak. He added that people in Turkey like caricature a lot, and said caricaturists can stand up to difficulties because they get their power from the people.
Alkan: Worse is drawn in democratic countries
Journalist Turker Alkan called on Erdogan to be more tolerable toward journalists in his column called in Radikal newspaper."To be honest, the caricaturist was fair. In democratic countries, worse things are drawn," wrote Alkan.
"They published a picture of Churchill as a statue with a dog's body. Don't they almost everyday publish caricatures of Bush, showing him as a monkey, and Blair as a dog?"
Pulur: I thought there was democracy in this country?
Another writer of the newspaper, Hakki Devrim, drew attention to contradictory rulings by Ankara and Eskisehir courts on cases involving the same caricature.
"Birgun" newspaper published a statement by the Turkish Animal Rights Platform (THHP) and asked: "Is it belittling to be likened to a cat?"
Columnist Hasan Pulur of the Milliyet newspaper wrote about the issue in his article titled, "The Caricature's Conviction."
"I thought there was democracy, freedom of thought," wrote Pulur. "I thought we were going to share European values."
Eksi warned for ECHR
"Who knows how he would be punished if he drew a member of the army," wrote Cetin Altan from the same newspaper.
Journalist Hasan Cemal touched the issue by publishing an article by Cumhuriyet's Oral Calislar in his column.
Oktay Eksi, the top columnist for Hurriyet newspaper reminded in his article, that the European Court of Human Rights usually overrules decisions by Turkish courts. (EO/EA/YE)
