“Not Liking Atatürk Is A Personal Preference, Not A Crime”
Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People (Mazlum Der) İstanbul branch organized a press release for Nuray Canan Bezirgan on Tuesday (June 17). Bezirgan is under investigation for saying during the TV show “Teke Tek” that she would say that she did not like Atatürk, the founder of Turkish Republic.
“Saying that I do not like is not an insult”
Reading the statement titled “Saying I do not like is not an insult” at the meeting where Bezirgan was present, Ayhan Küçük, the head of Mazlum Der Istanbul branch, said, “After Fatih Altaylı’s program another malicious and helpless discussion is started, this time against Bezirgan, who simply answered a question asked by Altaylı during the TV show; a lynch campaign is put into action.
Küçük said that discussions about headscarf, an important fundamental right, was being mislead with malicious questions and the public was being pulled into an unnecessary discussion as happened during the February 28 process many years ago and continued by making the following statement:
“The elitist bureaucratic mentality and its extensions in the media, who see in themselves the right to intervene in feelings, are covering up the real issues by keeping the public agenda busy with unnecessary discussions, as they have been doing for years.”
“To not like is a personal preference”
Küçük stated that defining the right to make a personal choice, something so natural and so much about one’s inner world, as an insult is an attempt to distort knowledge intentionally. He furthermore added that Bezirgan stated clearly that she did not have a personal problem with Atatürk, but with the obstacles and practices that were put in front of him in Atatürk’s name.
According to the laws in effect that clearly state which actions are criminal, says Küçük, Bezirgan’s action cannot be construed as an insult and therefore a public apology is due for the expressions that have gone beyond criticizing her.
Bezirgan, who was at the press release as a guest and was not expected to speak, said, upon a question, that it was not her, but Altaylı himself who forced the Atatük-Humeyni comparison.
Answering a question about her immigration to Canada, she said that the issue was not whether to like or not, but how much freedom of expression was there.
Upon Bezirgan’s words during the TV show titled “Teke Tek” that if she knew she would not get into trouble, then she would say she did not like him, Beyoğlu prosecutor started an investigation under the second article of Law 5816, concerning “crimes against Atatürk”.
Law no. 5816, concerning the crime of insulting Atatürk, states: “Anyone who publicly insults or curses the memory of Atatürk shall be imprisoned with a sentence of between one and three years. … If the crimes outlined in the first article are committed by a group of two or more individuals, or publicly, or in public districts or by means of the press, the penalty imposed will be increased by a proportion of one half.”(BÇ/EZÖ/TB)