Turkey bans award-winning cartoonist Carlos Latuff

11 posts / 0 new

Mon, 2016-01-25 13:38

ikosmos

Quote:

Al-Monitor: Mr. Latuff, in Turkey you are known as the Latin American or Brazilian artist who draws Erdogan. Members of the opposition — left and right wing — cherish your work, whereas pro-government sections detest it. Although you are popular in Turkey, many people do not know who you are and why you are interested in Turkey. Any personal information you may want to share with the [Al-Monitor] readers?

Latuff: My personal life does not tell your readers much. The interest I have for Turkey is the same interest I have for other countries. I am a political cartoonist, and international affairs is my specialty. The difference is that I have been to Turkey, as well as Palestine, and this is what gives me a more personal approach.

Al-Monitor: What are some of the reactions you have received from Turkey, via social media and other means? Have you visited Turkey? I recall reading you are banned from visiting Israel. Are there other countries in the region that you are banned from? Also, access to your blog and cartoons is banned in Turkey.

from Al-Monitor Why Did Turkey Ban a Cartoonist from Brazil?

Latuff: "This ban is a clear sign that Turkey is everything but a democracy. If you punish artists for mocking politicians, then definitely you do not have a democracy. I was entirely opposed to the ridiculous depictions by Charlie Hebdo of the Prophet Muhammad, but I have no problems criticizing or even making fun of opportunistic politicians like Sultan Erdogan."

Mon, 2016-01-25 13:55

NDPP

Latuff is one of my faves!

https://twitter.com/hashtag/latuff

Mon, 2016-01-25 15:13

monty1

NDPP wrote:

Latuff is one of my faves!

https://twitter.com/hashtag/latuff

If he's one of your favourites then you understand that Charlie Hebdo was always wrong for their Muslim bashing. I've been of that opinion too right from the beginning because I was sure the chickens would come home to France for not being able to take the high road on the hate rhetoric in those cartoons. And they served no purpose at all except to give the haters a little laugh!

Fri, 2016-04-15 08:56

josh

Merkel caves to Erdogan and will investigate prosecuting Turkish comic:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36055488?ns_mchannel=social&ns_camp...

Fri, 2016-04-15 11:34

kropotkin1951

This cartoon alone would have Latuff condemned by the Canadian parliament, if he had used the bootlicking leaders of our three parties instead.

Fri, 2016-04-15 11:37

kropotkin1951

josh wrote:

Merkel caves to Erdogan and will investigate prosecuting Turkish comic:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36055488?ns_mchannel=social&ns_camp...

Quote:

Jan Boehmermann had recited a satirical poem on television which made sexual references to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Under German law, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had to approve a criminal inquiry.

Mrs Merkel stressed that the courts would have the final word, and it was now up to prosecutors to decide whether to press charges.

The chancellor added that her government would move to repeal the controversial and little-used Article 103 of the penal code, which concerns insults against foreign heads of state, by 2018.

Boehmermann is a satirist and television present who is well-known for pushing the boundaries of German humour. He was given police protection earlier this week.

Some experts say he has a strong defence against potential charges because his poem could be seen as part of a wider piece of satire about free speech, rather than a deliberate insult, the BBC's Damien McGuinness reports from Berlin.

I cannot believe that no one has ever satirized Putin on German TV. Or is it just that Putin doesn't complain and demand retribution like Erdogan. Does anyone know how the persecution gets triggered?

Thu, 2016-04-21 13:20

kropotkin1951

If anyone has a bent for limericks here is a contest being run in the UK that now has a 1,000 pound prize. The filthiest poem about Erdogen gets the prize.

Quote:

Well I’m a free-born British man, and we don’t live under the blasphemy laws of such despots. So in honour of this fact I have spent the weekend writing rude limericks about Mr Erdogan. And I would hereby like to invite all readers to join me in a grand Erdogan limerick competition. That isn’t to say that entries which come in the form of Iambic pentameters, or heroic couplets will be completely discounted. I think a work in the Homeric mode, for example, about the smallness of Erdogan’s manhood could (if suitably disgusting) stand some chance of winning. But I recommend limericks because almost everything insulting that is worth saying can usually be included within the five lines of that beautiful and delicate form.

...

I would also like to stress that the aim of the competition is to be as filthy and insulting as possible about Recep Erdogan. Rhymes with some political point might be considered, but will inevitably take second-place to works which mull (for example) solely on President Erdogan’s reputed fondness for goats or his notorious untrustworthiness in the vicinity of any public zoo.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/introducing-the-president-erdogan-o...

Thu, 2016-04-21 14:45

6079_Smith_W

kropotkin1951 wrote:

I cannot believe that no one has ever satirized Putin on German TV. Or is it just that Putin doesn't complain and demand retribution like Erdogan. Does anyone know how the persecution gets triggered?

If you want to see what comedians and political commentators are actually satirizing this TV show on the public broadcaster goes after NATO and the Americans far more often, as in this piece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYWUcopP30M

THe fun starts around 1:20. Don't have time to translate it, but you'd probably find it pretty funny, as I did. Even if I don't agree with all of it.

Thu, 2016-04-21 15:47

kropotkin1951

My German is non existent but thanks anyways.

Thu, 2016-04-21 16:33

#10

6079_Smith_W

It is also not the first act in this little drama. A few days before Boehmermann read his poem another satire program ran a satirical song ridiculing Erdogan. The Turkish leader responded by calling in the German ambassador and demanding that his country delete the video. They did not comply.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_3#Erdo.C4.9Fan_controversy

Boehmermann actually did his piece in response, as an experiment:

Quote:

In his show, Böhmermann announced he would try to figure out what is the line between legitimate criticism such as the extra 3 video, which is protected by freedom of speech legislation, and "abusive criticism" (German: Schmähkritik) of a foreign state leader, which in Germany is a punishable offense.[3] Openly acknowledging that his experiment would be deliberately offensive, and standing in front of a Turkish flag and a portrait of Erdoğan, Böhmermann presented an experimental poem that did not only harshly criticize Erdoğan for his human rights record, but also contained profanity.[2]

The song (with english subtitles):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2e2yHjc_mc

Boehmermann's poem (with english subtitles):

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ac4_1460392858

Sat, 2016-04-23 11:04

#11

voice of the damned

Leonid Bershidsky points out that the Boehmermann case ia being used in the UK as an argument by Brexit proponents(because, who wants to be part of a Union that suppresses free speech on behalf of guys like Erdogan?). But he thinks that these arguments are misguided, since this prosecution is likely to be a one-off.

Also argues that the prosecution is basically a reward for Turkey's role in the recent refugee deal.

http://tinyurl.com/z7ckvpc