LGBTI+ FAMILY ORGANIZATIONS
‘We object to Can Candan’s dismissal from Boğaziçi University’
* Photo: LİSTAG
Click to read the article in Turkish
LGBTI+ family organizations have released a joint statement about the dismissal of academic and documentary filmmaker Can Candan from Boğaziçi University by Naci İnci, who has been appointed as the acting rector following the dismissal of appointed rector Melih Bulu.
In their statement about Candan, who is also the director of "My Child", a feature documentary about the parents of LGBTI+ individuals, the organizations have expressed their solidarity and support for the academic and demanded his reinstatement in his job at the university.
CLICK - Acting rector dismisses academic Can Candan
The organizations have briefly said:
"Can Candan is not an ordinary figure for us as the families of LGBTI+s. Our professor Can is the director of 'My Child' documentary, a turning point in the history of the struggle of the LGBTI+ families.
"This documentary is so important for us that it is hard to describe it in words. Because thanks to this documentary, we, as the families of LGBTI+s, were strikingly visible for the first time and we could make ourselves heard by large masses, saying that we stand with our children.
More than a documentary
"There might be some who think, 'Come on, it is just a documentary. What is the big deal?' But LGBTI+ families know that it is a big deal.
"This documentary has been a savior for the parents who do not know what to do when their children come out to them as LGBTI+s and are caught up in a whirl of despair and hopelessness and for the LGBTI+s who are afraid of their families' reactions.
Innumerous parents have realized that they are not alone and that their children being LGBTI+s is not the end of the world. Who knows how many young people have avoided living a life full of pain and sorrow.
A symbolic figure
"Can Candan has been a symbolic figure for not only us, the families of LGBTI+s, but also for LGBTI+s everywhere.
"In those days when LGBTI+s were attacked at Boğaziçi University under several pretexts, dozens of them were taken into custody and arrested and the LGBTI+ student's clubs were closed, Can Candan was among several esteemed professors who stood up against it.
"Afterwards, he also strongly protested all anti-democratic practices at Boğaziçi University and waged a struggle to protect the values of the university and the future of his students.
"Because of all these reasons, the first thing done by İnci, who has been appointed as the acting rector to erase the colors of the rainbow, was to dismiss our professor.
"We, the families of LGBTI+s, object to this with each and every bit of our existence. We do not accept that our professor Can is dismissed; we demand that this grave mistake be corrected and that our professor be given back to the university and to his students.
You cannot hinder the rainbow. Can Candan is not alone. Can Candan is our pride.
The undersigned LGBTI+ family organizations:
Akdeniz Antalya Families' Group, Denizli LGBTI+ Families' Group, GALADER – Ankara Rainbow Families Association, İzmir LGBTI+ Families Group, LİSTAG – Families and Friends of LGBTI+ in Turkey
About Can CandanDocumentary filmmaker, academic. He has a BA from Hampshire College (USA) in film and video, and an MFA from Temple University (USA) in film and media arts. As a filmmaker since 1989, his works have been screened internationally at festivals, conferences, schools, universities, in galleries, cinemas, and on television. He has taught film courses and workshops, both in universities and media education centers in the United States and in Turkey. He is a founding member of docIstanbul Center for Documentary Studies, which organized the 2010 Visible Evidence International Documentary Studies Conference at Bogazici University in Istanbul. During the academic year, he teaches on documentary history, theory and criticism; documentary cinema in Turkey and mentors film-related projects and theses. In 2016, he published (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK) an edited book entitled "Kurdish Documentary Cinema of Turkey" with Suncem Koçer (PhD) and has been collaborating with her on a new edited book entitled "Documentary Cultures in Turkey." He is also working on a new book (in Turkish) in collaboration with Sonay Ban (PhD), about the history of documentary cinema in Turkey. He has three feature length documentary films in international distribution. He is also developing and fundraising for his new feature documentary film entitled "Nuclear alla Turca" on the nuclear stories of Turkey. In 2005, he resigned as the chair of the film and television department of Istanbul Bilgi University after the university administration refused to take action on a sexual harassment case and he was subsequently fired. In 2012, he helped establish Boğaziçi University's Sexual Harassment Prevention Commission (CİTÖK). In 2014, he resigned as the head of the jury of the national documentary film competition at the Antalya International Film Festival, Turkey, calling attention to the censorship scandal regarding a documentary about the Gezi Park Uprising. In January 2016, he was one of the 2,212 signatories of the Academics for Peace declaration "We will not be a party to this crime", calling on the Government of Turkey to end the violence against the Kurdish population and resolve the conflict through peaceful means. Along with other signatories, he was accused of "propagandazigng for a terrorist organization" and tried in a heavy penal court under the anti-terror law, facing a minimum jail sentence of 15 months. Following the Constitutional Court's ruling in favor of freedom of expression in 2019, he was acquited of all charges. He continues to actively advocate for peace, conflict-resolution, human rights, freedom of speech and expression as well as environmental protection. He is the academic advisor of Boğaziçi University's LGBTI+ student club, which was closed following the appointment of a rector by a Presidential decree. Recently, he has received The Turkish Film Critics Association's 2021 Honor Award. *Source: Can Candan Academia account |
(DŞ/SD)