Müjdat Gezen Art Center Arsonist Arrested

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M.A.A., who confessed to setting fire to Müjdat Gezen Art Center, in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district, has been arrested.

M.A.A. was released by the Anatolia 7th Criminal Court of Peace, where he was sent to be arrested, following questioning by the prosecution.

Upon the prosecutor’s office’s objection, M.A.A. was once again detained and arrested by Anatolia 8th Criminal Court of Peace today (February 24).

Gezen targeted by Akit TV aftersexist remarks about Osmanoğlu

Testifying before the Anti-Terror Department, M.A.A. stated he set fire to the art center in response to Müjdat Gezen’s insulting comments about Nilhan Osmanoğlu,  Abdul Hamid II's fifth-generation granddaughter.

Gezen made sexist remarks about Osmanoğlu on a Halk TV programme,  which he attended with journalist Yılmaz Özdil.

In response to the comments, Akit TV targeted Müjdat Gezen and the art center.

Suspect makes contradictory statements

In his confession, M.A.A said: “My intention was not to harm anyone or to set the building on fire. I only set fire to an area outside the building that looked like a winter garden. I was overwhelmed by my feelings. I regret it”.

After being released, the suspect stated: “I did not go there under the influence of alcohol. I only acted driven by my feelings for my homeland, and as I liked. Abdul Hamit made some contributions for all of us, for this country. They say of me: ‘some junkie like [Abdul Hamit] has set it on fire’. That is not true. I have never drunk alcohol in my life. I am not a member of any organization.’’

In his police testimony, however, M.A.A stated he had acted under the influence of alcohol.

About Müjdat Gezen Art Center

Established in 1991 in İstanbul’s  Kadıköy district, in the neighborhood of Ziverbey , Müjdat Gezen Art Center provides training in theater, singing, diction, authorship, music, dubbing and acting, and more.

The center provides up to four years of free education to low-income students in theater, classical Turkish music, Turkish folk music, western music and classical guitar.

The center sustains itself  via charitable support, as well as the income obtained from its artistic activities and courses.

The center was the first institution to provide traditional Turkish theatrical education in Turkey. It also occupies an important place in traditional improvised theater education.

Each April, the center holds a talent exam l. Between 13 and 16 students are then accepted into the school. Those who pass the final test at the end of the first semester then become part of the upper class.

The art center’s Cihangir branch opened in 2003.

About Müjdat Gezen

Born on October 29, 1943, Müjdat Gezen is an actor, poet, educator, and the founder of Müjdat Gezen Art Center. Gezen has been the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to Turkey since 2007.

Gezen has acted in over a hundred movies, around 50 theater plays, and more than 1,000 radio and TV skits, some of which he also e wrote and directed.

In 2011, Gezen was awarded the Afife Theater Awards Muhsin Ertuğrul Special Prize, as well as the Uludağ University 8th Annual Media Awards’ Theater Honorary Award.

Gezen was the target of a series of defamation suits, as a result of which he was fined 4,000 TL in compensation to each of the following individuals: Bekir Bozdağ, Suat Kılıç, Mustafa Elitaş, Ayşe Nur Bahçekapılı, Nurettin Canikli, Bülent Gedikli, Hüseyin Tanrıverdi, Ebide Sözen, Köksal Toptan, Nimet Çubukçu, Murat Mercan, Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, Muzaffer Baştopçu, İbrahim Yiğit and Seracettin Karayağız. (EKN/TK/DG)