Red Roses protest in Kadıköy: No to Censorship

The actors protested against the programme suspension and fine imposed on the Red Roses series with the slogan “No to censorship” in Kadıköy.

Actresses, members of labour and professional organisations in the field of cinema, protested against RTÜK’s programme suspension and fines imposed on the TV series Red Roses in front of Süreyya Opera in Kadıköy, İstanbul. Ece Dizdar, member of the Board of Directors of the Actors’ Union, said: “The existence of all creative fields is threatened and a climate of fear is tried to be created through censorship, which we encounter with methods such as punishment, banning, investigation, targeting, threatening, intimidation, humiliation, obstruction, physical and verbal attack, criminalisation and marginalisation.”

Reactions to the programme suspension and 9 million TL fine imposed twice on the FOX TV series “Red Roses” on the grounds of “violations of the national and moral values of the society” continue. With the call of the Actors’ Union, many labour and professional organisations in the field of cinema held a protest in Kadıköy district of Istanbul with the slogan “No to censorship”.

‘NORMALISATION OF CENSORSHIP WILL HAVE MORE DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES THAN CENSORSHIP’

According to ANKA, a banner reading “Free cinema against censorship” was unfurled, banners reading “No to censorship” were carried and slogans such as “Don’t shut up, shout, no to censorship” and “There is no salvation, only one, either all together or none of us” were chanted. Ece Dizdar, member of the Board of Directors of the Actors’ Union, read the prepared joint statement and stated that a new one was added to the censorship practices:

“Of course, this is not the first time we are facing these censorship practices. The normalisation of censorship practices, which we frequently see in every field of art such as theatre, cinema and TV series, will have more dangerous consequences than censorship itself.

The existence of all creative fields is threatened and a climate of fear is attempted to be created through censorship, which we encounter through methods such as punishment, banning, investigation, targeting, threatening, intimidation, humiliation, obstruction, physical and verbal attack, criminalisation and marginalisation.

Censorship has been a common struggle of all creative fields at the universal level. In our country, Article 64 of the Constitution is clear: ‘The State protects artistic activities and artists. It takes necessary measures to protect, evaluate and support works of art and artists and to spread the love of art’. As stated in the Constitution, artistic activities, ‘freedom of artistic expression’ as we call it, are protected by law.

‘WE CANNOT BREATHE’

Obstacles to freedom of artistic expression do not only come in the form of broadcasting suspensions and fines. For example, theatre plays cancelled at the last minute on the grounds that they have been under renovation for years… Concerts, shows, exhibitions cancelled on the grounds of ‘public security’… Crews prevented from entering cities… Withdrawal of support given by the ministry… Documentaries and feature films stopped from being screened… Festivals cancelled…

The consequences of censorship do not only end with the prevention of performances and works. Teams are targeted, thousands of employees cannot receive their wages and suffer job losses. Enough is enough.

We cannot breathe due to censorship, bans and restrictions. As labour and professional organisations, we have been and will continue to be against censorship everywhere and at all times, on stages, in cinemas, on screens, in studios. Censorship cannot be normalised. We invite all our colleagues to stand together against censorship and its indirect consequences. We are not alone, we will fight this struggle together. Let the obstacles to our freedom of artistic expression be removed, let the artist remain free.”

You can watch footage from the action in this news report.