Pornographic Movie - A Slightly Different Graduate Thesis

A student's thesis created quite a stir at Istanbul's Bilgi University and in the Turkish media. Visual design student Deniz Özgün prepared a pornographic movie as his final project, as reported by the Tempo magazine earlier this week. Bilgi University suspended Prof. İhsan Derman, founder of the Department for Visual Design, and lecturers Ali Pekşen and Ahmet Atıf Akın subsequent to the publication of the news.

The issue was also controversially discussed in the "Her Şey" ('Everything') program on the Turkish nation-wide news channel NTV hosted by Mirgün Cabbas.

Suspended lecturer Akın's lawyer, Kısmet Tav Eroğlu, said that the university's administration had put the incident "under a strict quarantine" in order to prevent it from becoming public. "As far as I could see, the media had a big share in pushing this matter beyond the limit. My client is rather emotionally affected", Eroğlu explained.

Kahraman: Academic freedom has always been a problem

Hasan Bülent Kahraman, member of faculty of the Sabancı University, criticized, "Academic freedom has always been a problematic issue in Turkey".

Kahraman highlighted that the three faculty members were not only suspended but they are also facing a criminal complaint. "As a faculty member who has a student writing his academic thesis on pornography, research on pornography cannot be obstructed and in cannot be a crime", he argued.

Özman: Pornography is not liberalism but conservatism

Melek Özman, member of the FILMMOR Women Cooperative, claimed that the use of pornography is not related to freedom sine women are regarded as objects and are being reified. She said that the actual issue was a "re-production of pornography". "Pornography is not freedom but conservatism in itself", Özman said.

Cinmen: We published it because it was newsworthy

Tempo magazine writer Işıl Cinmen participated in the discussion via the phone. She indicated that the issue was published within the scope of the public's right to be informed and that it was considered as being "newsworthy". Cinmen said that the magazine's editorial office discussed the topic before it was published. She expressed her regret for the suspension of the three faculty members.

Suspension and criminal complaint

Subsequent to the suspension of Prof. Derman and lecturers Pekşen and Akın, the university announced, "Dear Members of the Bilgi University, as a consequence of the preliminary investigation launched upon the news published in the January 2011 issue of Tempo magazine, no. 24-1123, the university terminated the co-operation with one faculty member and two members of the teaching staff who are to be held responsible for the incident. An administrative investigation within the institute was launched. At the same time, legal steps are being taken".

Nesin: University administration should resign

Prof Ali Nesin, Head of the Bilgi University Math Department, called the university's administration to resign on the grounds of their attitude demonstrated by the suspension of the three academics.

Nesin voiced harsh criticism in a letter sent to the university administration. It read, "I demand this administration to resign. Apparently, it is not able to manage our university neither academically or as an institution that yields profit. This administration, set in stone by its experiences, is messing up every decision it takes", Nesin wrote.

Signature Campaign

Graduates and former research and teaching staff of the Visual Communications Design and Photograph and Video graduate program launched a signature campaign against the suspension of the three members of the teaching staff.

On the TepkiVeCagrı.com website ('reactions and call'), the former university members expressed their concern about the developments. On 3 January, they posted a joint statement that has been signed by about 1,500 people so far.

The statement reads, "Topics of research may not be limited in an academic environment. It is not the duty of an academic advisor to censor a research topic. It is the academic advisor's duty to evaluate the research topic within the framework of the discipline and to show the student a way to place it into context [...]". (EÖ/VK)