Turkey: Organizers condemn director who dedicated award to jailed doctor

Organizers of Bogazici Film Festival in Turkey condemned the award winning Turkish director who dedicated his award to the recently imprisoned chair of the Turkish medical Association (TTB).

Ozcan Alper, who won the best Director award in the festival for his 2022 film "Black Night," said in his speech at the ceremony that he dedicated his award to Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci, who was imprisoned over "terror propaganda" charges for publicly making an assessment of a video footage that allegedly show a chemical warfare victim in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

They said:

"As a festival who has always given precedence to artists and films, we condemn the political references and slogans voiced by some award winners in the awards ceremony, as we express our wish that out cultural and artistic life grows on healthy grounds."

According to a report by government media Yeni Safak, the Speaker of the Turkish Grand Assembly (TBMM) Mustafa Sentop called a Turkish actor, Burak Haktanir, to congratulate him on the phone for his "stance" during the awards ceremony, because he shouted out after Alper's speech, "That woman [Sebnem Korur Fincanci] slandered the Turkish Armed Forces."