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As if it were a film set, one of the most commercial streets in
Istanbul
became a meeting point for dozens of
Turkish actors.
In mid-January they burst into the city center with banners, capturing the attention of passersby.
The interpreters,
members of a union,
defied the
ban
on
demonstrating
in the streets - a measure imposed for years
against the opposition in Turkey -
to
protest
against government
censorship
in the
audiovisual sector.
The trigger for the protest was the authorities' fine against the new series of the moment,
'Red Buds'
('Kizil Goncalar' in Turkish).
The fiction, which is broadcast on Fox TV and does not yet have a release date in Spain, tells of the
social and religious division
of the country represented within
a family.
Turkey 's
media
watchdog ,
RTÜK,
banned the broadcast of the series for two weeks and imposed a
fine of 300,000 euros
on the channel after stating that Red Buds violates "the national and spiritual values of society."
The producer of the series,
Faruk Turgut
, criticized the measure and assured that 'Red Sprouts' is a portrait of the social divisions that exist in the country and that it is evident that it has touched "the sensitive chord" of Turkish society, particularly the " charged atmosphere and the
moral war
that plagues the country".
Actresses, the most notable
After the fine, the series producer has had to close several buildings rented for recording, although 'Red Buds' has barely lost any audience.
A camera assistant who works on this fiction describes how censorship has
affected
the team: "This climate of
pressure
especially harms the creative team. If they impose
red lines
on you that are not completely clear, you try to find ways to express the same message." with other images or words. But this
lack of freedom
affects us all," explains Merve, who does not want to give her name for fear of being singled out.
"I think it also has a lot of influence on
actresses
, because they are
more distinguished.
They have much less freedom to explore risky characters or those that represent strong and independent women," she adds.
"Censorship, which occurs through methods such as punishments, bans, investigations, attacks, threats, intimidation, humiliation or blockades, threatens the existence of all creative fields and attempts to create a climate of fear," Ece noted during the protest in Istanbul
. Dizdar,
member of the board of directors of the
Actors Guild.
The cases of
fines and censorship
by the RTÜK organization are multiple and are part of an increasingly common policy of the Turkish authorities to
control the content
that is broadcast on
television
and
streaming platforms.
The press also receives these constant calls of attention, but in the case of fiction, even audiovisual products that had not yet been released have been censored.
This is the case of the series 'If I had known' ('If Only', on Netflix), which tells the story of a
woman disenchanted
with her marriage and looking for a twist of fate.
Homosexuality, prohibited
After reviewing the script, RTÜK did not give
Netflix
permission to
film the series in Turkey,
because one of the
characters
that appeared in the fiction was
homosexual
.
Netflix refused to modify the script and had to
move the entire production to another country.
Its creators were involved in another controversy with
'Amor 101'
('Love 101', on the same platform), when pro-government media began to speculate that the series had a homosexual character.
Netflix had to speak out after days of controversy to announce that 'Love 101' did not have homosexual characters.
This
pressure
is possible thanks to a
law that the Government approved
two years ago, which requires streaming platforms and social media companies to have an
office in Turkey,
allowing authorities
greater
control
of
the content they handle.
The
dynamics of censorship
almost always respond to the
same pattern.
A media outlet close to the Government or a conservative organization begins to point out a cultural product, ensuring that it goes against family values, the role of women or social morality.
Then, the RTÜK body, made up of representatives of the parties in Parliament, issues a decision, which is usually censorship against the audiovisual product.
"The Government (of President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan has the majority in Parliament, which is why it always manages to approve these measures," says a source from the RTÜK organization.
"The
Executive
is interested in pleasing the
most conservative sectors
of society to maintain their support, which is why it applies a heavy hand with these issues," he adds.
A family model anchored in the past
Feminist organizations
and
LGTBI groups
criticize that Erdogan's Government is trying
to impose a model of family
and
women
on society, forcing millions of people to fit into a stereotype of a
conservative
and
believing
person .
"A woman who abstains from motherhood because she works is denying her femininity," the president once said, adding: "A
woman
who
rejects motherhood
and
renounces household chores
faces the threat of losing her freedom. ".
Two years ago, the president ordered Turkey's withdrawal from the
Istanbul Convention,
a pan-European treaty that establishes a legal framework to protect women's rights, saying that the pact went against family values because it mentioned single women who They live alone and promoted homosexuality by pointing out that people must be protected from sexist violence regardless of their gender.
"Defending the family
means defending the future of all humanity," Erdogan declared at a
UN meeting.
Censor fiction to erase reality
For
Asli Emirdogan,
a member of the feminist organization
Purple Solidarity
(Mor Dayanisma), the president's words have a great social impact.
"If they say that it is bad to be the way you are and make your decisions independently, if the media contributes to this idea, how are you going to decide your course as a woman if you have no references?" She points out.
"Censoring fiction
prevents us from imagining other scenarios of reality. It prevents us from knowing the history of many women who live in our country," she laments.
In August of last year, RTÜK banned the broadcast of five episodes of the series 'Opposite Worlds' ('Kizilcik Serbeti', which is broadcast on Divinity) for
violating family values.
The fiction portrays a wealthy but very conservative Turkish family whose son marries a woman from a secular family with strong and independent ideas.
She suffers
sexist violence
and is
thrown out of a window
by her
husband
, after refusing a sexual encounter with him.
It is precisely
this episode
that is the reason for RTÜK's censorship, which also imposed a
fine of 75,000 euros on the production company.
"Is it because we don't show female characters who remain silent and confront the harsh reality that women live in our society?"
Sila Türkoglu,
one of the leading actresses of the series, said on her networks.
Thousands of 'Opposite Worlds' fans opposed the measure with the hashtag
Don't touch opposite worlds.
Türkoglu stated: "The truth has never been accepted in this country."