Turkish Artists Protest Legal Action

In a story of cartoonist solidarity with political ramifications, the Turkish Cartoonists Association has gathered in Istanbul to protest a lawsuit filed by the prime minister against a cartoonist. Last week a court returned a $3500 charge against Cumhuriyet, the newspaper that in May ran Musa Kart's cartoon featuring Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a cat in a ball of yarn. It is one of more than 50 lawsuits filed by the prime minister against the press. Another cartoonist, Sefer Seli, was previously convicted and fined.

The cartoonists hope to add to international pressure to keep Erdogan from impeding what they feel is free speech, a potentially useful political lever because of Turkey's attempts to join the European Union. Strangely, Erdogan has enabled any number of journalism reforms since taking office.

Here's an article about the recent decision.
 
posted 8:05 am PST | Permalink
 

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