Penn, Sarandon and intellectuals condemn Gezi crackdown in letter to Turkish PM

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

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Signatories included Hollywood celebrities known for their activism, such as Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Ben Kingsley and movie director David Lynch.

A group of internationally renowned artists and scholars condemned the Turkish authorities’ heavy-handed crackdown on the Gezi Park protests in a full-page letter published July 24 in the British broadsheet The Times, addressed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The signatories, including figures known for their activism such as Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Ben Kingsley and movie director David Lynch, described the Turkish government as “a dictatorial rule” and slammed Erdoğan’s uncompromising stance regarding the protesters’ demands.

The prime minister's orders “led to the deaths of five innocent youths,” the letter said, adding that he might be called to render account to the European Court of Human Rights for the police’s violence.

They also compared the counter-rallies organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the annual Nuremberg rallies organized by the Nazis.

“Only days after clearing Taksim Square and Gezi Park relying on untold brutal force, you held a meeting in Istanbul, reminiscent of the Nuremberg Rally, with total disregard for the five dead whose only crime was to oppose your dictatorial rule,” the letter said.

It also emphasized that more journalists were imprisoned in Turkey than in Iran and China combined. “Moreover, you described these protesters as tramps, looters and hooligans, even alleging they were foreign-led terrorists. Whereas, in reality, they were nothing but youngsters wanting Turkey to remain a Secular Republic as designed by its founder Kemal Atatürk,” the letter added.

Andrew Mango, the biographer of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Fazıl Say, the Turkish pianist who was recently sentenced for blasphemy after tweeting several lines attributed to a poet, were also among the signatories.

Other signatories included: Irish novelist Edna O’Brien, British Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, British actress Vanessa Redgrave, British film director of Turkish origin Fuad Kavur, Hungarian Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and American freelance journalist and writer Claire Berlinski.

July/24/2013

Stars condemn Turkish leader in open letter

Stars including SUSAN SARANDON, SEAN PENN and SIR BEN KINGSLEY have joined forces to condemn the prime minister of Turkey over the treatment of protesters during demonstrations in the country.

Published: Wed, July 24, 2013

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Unrest swept across the nation in June (13) when police tried to forcibly move peaceful demonstrators who were camped in Istanbul's Taksim Square in a bid to halt a planned redevelopment of the area.
Violent clashes followed as political activists took to the streets to show their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government and the introduction of strict conservative policies.
As protests in the country continue, a number of luminaries from the worlds of film, history and law have come together to write an open letter accusing Erdogan of using "heavy-handed" tactics which have allegedly led to the death of five demonstrators.
The missive, taken out as an advertisement in The Times newspaper, reads, "We, the undersigned, write this letter to most vigorously condemn the heavy-handed clamp down of your police forces on the peaceful protesters."
The letter goes on to accuse Erdogan's government of "relying on untold brutal force" and having "told disregard" for the five protesters who died during clashes.
As well as Sarandon, Penn and Kingsley, the letter is also signed by director David Lynch, actor James Fox, Oscar-winning screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.