Artist Rojin Sues Journalist Turgut for "Sexual Harassment"

Artist Rojin from TRT's Kurdish Channel filed a criminal complaint about journalist Serdar Turgut because of his comment "I would kidnap her and make her my sex slave". Rojin demanded to prosecute Turgut under charges of "sexual harassment" and "insult via the media".

If Rojin's claim is accepted, Turgut faces imprisonment of between 6 months and 4 years.

In his column published on 24 October entitled "I am sorry not to be a PKK terrorist" Turgut wrote, "As far as I understood Abdullah Öcalan's explanations he participated in group sex parties on the mountains; and since he is a PKK member he did this in a militant manner". Turgut continued, "Up to now I have not seen an attractive women of the PKK, therefore I could kidnap Rojin from the city and take them to the mountains".

Rojin replied in a written statement, "Is the reason for this indifference that I am a Kurd and a women?" and announced that she had filed a criminal complaint.

The artist handed her petition to the Bakırköy Courthouse on 27 October.

"I do not expect an apology but prosecution for this insult"

At the same day Rojin said in an evening program on the Turkish news channel NTV upon a statement of Can Dündar, "I will pursue this trial until the end as an example in Turkey. I do not expect an apology from Turgut".

Rojin said she was quite puzzled when she read the article and that she tried hard to understand what he was trying to say. "It is a horrible thing for all women if a well-ecucated intellectual, who is wirting columns for years, wirtes an article hitting below the belt".

Rojin contiued, "Turgut spit out all his anger about the peace process and made me an appetizer". She said that what Turgut did had nothing to do with humour but was racism and sexism".

"Humour should make people laugh and should not disgust them. I have a sense of humour. However, this was not a joke. I want this insult to be punished". (BÇ/VK)