Article On Rise Of Turkey’s Erdogan Notes Anti-Cartooning Element

This profile of rising international power Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey notes that on multiple occasions the Prime Minister has sued cartoonists that depicted him in a way that was critical of policy. This seems to be part of a general strategy of handling the media that includes auditing recalcitrant corporations, in one case submitting a bill in the billions of dollars range.

There are five prominent instances of the Prime Minister suing a cartoonist or publisher over a cartoons from 2006-2008, best discussed here. Earlier this year Turkish prosecutors sought American cooperation in finding a cartoonist who was using the Internet to distribute anti-Erdogan cartoons (the U.S. declined the request). All of the cases were lost by Erdogan, but represent a potentially chilling effect on cartoonists and other creators that might wish to engage in satirical commentary without setting off on a mentally agonizing odyssey where a significant chunk of income is at risk.
 
posted 3:24 am PST | Permalink
 

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