1 –Oda TV – Notes two columnists writing in the pro-government paper Yeni Şafak have come out against the women who are sharing their own experiences of sexual violence on social media in the wake of recent revelations about the brutal murder of 20-year-old Özgecan Aslan in Mersin. Sevda Türküsev took to Twitter, writing: “To the women who turn to social media to talk about the harassment they’ve experienced rather than to a doctor: come to your senses, do you think you’ll be a hero like on [TV shows]?” [Assuming the dizlerdeki “the one on her knees” was meant to be [dizilerdeki, “the one on the TV shows.”] Meanwhle, Cemile Bayraktar told critics of the government, “Don’t strip at the opportunism to say this is a rapist Mulsim country. A woman is raped in America every two minutes. Now shut your mouths.”
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is moving to destroy all opposition its vision of an authoritarian new Turkey, according to the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB). “The government’s project is to make a new Turkey, so they are trying to design everything – the media, the judiciary. It wants a Turkey that sides with it. They get 50 percent of the votes; they call it the national will and say, ‘People want this.’ No, only 50 percent want this; the other 50 percent do not want it,” said Mehmet Soğancı.
3 – Radikal – Describes the 15 February premiere of Çekmeceler at !f film festival. The team wore black ribbons to show support for the protests of violence against women that have been raised in recent days after the exposure of Özgecan Aslan’s murder. Co-director M. Caner Alper noted that the idea for the film had come up at a previous !f festival when they were showing Zenne, and this is one reason it was appropriate to premiere the film here. As for the 18+ rating, he said the ratings system in Turkey is clearly a problem, but at least the film will be released in the country. Co-director Mehmet Binay downplayed comparisons with Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, saying that it was an honor to be compared to a director like von Trier but their film is quite different, going into the reasons behind the situation. The film will hit cinemas in Turkey on 6 March.
4 – Today’s Zaman
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has levied a nearly TL 1 million penalty on the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group in what Samanyolu executives consider yet another attempt to silence media outlets close to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
5 – Maedyafaresi – RTÜK says it didn’t fine the dizi Ah Biz Kadınlar for using the word “Tanrı” instead of “Allah,” as reported by various media outlets but, rather, for making fun of god.
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