The Short Life of the Harakiri Magazine
After its second issue, the satiric Harakiri magazine was forced to cease publication due to a monetary fine of TL 150,000 (€ 75,000). Renowned Turkish caricaturists like Bahadır Boysal, Serhat Gürpınar, Behiç Pek or Cezmi Ersöz had contributed to the monthly magazine.
The first Harakiri issue was published in May 2011. The Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications decided that three drawings of the first issue "had a harmful influence on the moral of minors". The board banned the magazine for readers under age.
Caricaturist Tuncay Akgün, editor-in-chief of the magazine, criticized, "Nowadays, freedom of creativity is being restricted as well as freedom of expression. It is very strange that fiction cannot be distinguished from reality. We were concerned when we prepared the second issue. We felt that we were drifting towards auto-censorship. You start to huddle under the umbrella of the norm automatically and this is the real danger".
Internationally recognized artist Kutlukhan Perker was irritated and angry about the situation. "You are not even granted the right to defend yourself. The protection board applies a sanction with an extrajudicial punishment. It is appalling that a caricature is treated as if it was hard porn. The magazine cannot be sold to minors and it cannot be put in the shelves. These are heavy economic sanctions. This is a decision for destruction. The humour we made turned into a tragedy" Perker said.
The artist announced to take legal action. Perker underlined that the monetary fine based on the circulation of the magazine according to Law No. 1117 on the Protection of Minors from Harmful Publications was very high.
In the notification sent by the protection board, the caricature "Relations" by Mehmet Ersoy is alleged of "encouraging extramarital relations". The decision continues, "Next to the writing entitled "selfish" on page 15 the female genitals can be seen. On page 44, pictures show a naked couple in different positions of sexual intercourse. The cartoonish pictures enhance sexual incitement. The drawings supported by speech bubbles and drawings ordered like a photo romance plus the narration have a stronger influence on our children. (...) Societies established social norms in order to protect their assets and to provide social order. Press and publication outlets must comply with these norms".
It seems that the Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications is going to keep the papers busy with their disputable decisions for a while. The board is functioning as a mechanism to restrict freedom of expression. This needs to be discussed urgently. (IC/ŞA)