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Modern theater building disproves skeptics’ fears
The reconstruction of the Atatürk Culture Center, which is located in İstanbul’s Taksim Square, stirred up a similar debate that has been continuing for several years.
When İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş unveiled plans in 2008 to demolish the Muhsin Ertuğrul Theater because it did not meet the public’s needs and to construct a new, modern theater building, some secularist circles and newspapers accused Topbaş of lying and argued that his real aim was to construct a mosque or a hotel in the area.
Artist Bedri Baykam, theater actors Nedim Saban and Rutkay Aziz, clarinetist Hüsnü Şenlendirici, film actors Tarık Akan and Aytaç Arman, actress Müjde Ar, Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul provincial head Gürsel Tekin and CHP deputy Çetin Soysal were some of the individuals who participated in the demonstrations held outside the old theater.
Clarinetist Şenlendirici said he was very happy about İstanbul having a modern theater and expressed his regret at having participated in the 2008 protest.
“I was the youngest artist who took part in those demonstrations, and I think I was a little bit provoked. When the elderly artists whom I value took part in the demonstrations, I supported them. If I am invited to the inauguration of the new building, I will definitely go there,” Şenlendirici said.
Mayor Topbaş, who was the center of criticism in those days, lashed out at his critics, accusing them of acting in with prejudice.
“Back then, they said, ‘They will construct a mosque here.’ Can there be such prejudice and lack of conscience? Those who came up with such allegations just made things up. Can there be such a lack of trust? I wonder how they can still call themselves human. They did not hear anything from anywhere, they just made those allegations up and lied,” Topbaş said.
The new five-storey theater building, which cost TL17 million, has a 600-person capacity and was built on an area of 6,930 square meters. In the basement are storerooms for costumes. The building has timber ceilings that have good acoustic features as well as special sound, lighting and visual systems. There are six rooms with bathrooms for the performers as well as a library and a cafeteria.
Tekin, of the CHP, said the protests held in 2008 against the reconstruction of the Muhsin Ertuğrul Theater were not protests by his party and that he had participated in the demonstrations to lend support to the artists.
Describing the inauguration of the new theater as a very good development, he said: “As the CHP İstanbul provincial branch, we have given support to many protests. If one of the protests we joined has turned out be wrong, then we will admit this. If İstanbul and the arts win here, this will make us happy. If we are invited to the inauguration, we will certainly go.”
Why were there fears?
A Taraf daily columnist who covered the issue last week said there are millions of “secular-urban-modern” people in Turkey who see the AK Party government and its local administrations as the “enemy” and see themselves as “insurgents” that fight against the enemy. It is necessary to understand the essence and dynamics of this political struggle to make any sense of the protests against the government’s projects and plans.
“Since the enemy categorically cannot commit a positive act, everything it does should be declared as ‘bad, evil-intentioned and dangerous’ without looking at its content,” Alper Görmüş said in explaining the mentality of the skeptics.
In addition to this, Görmüş says in his column that although the protestors are now going back on what they said and welcome the inauguration of a more modern theater building, they actually wish they had been right in their reactions.
“Do you really think the protestors are pleased with the outcome? If the İstanbul Municipality had not kept its promise to construct a more modern theater and began constructing a mosque or a hotel there, wouldn’t the protestors have been happier? I think they would have been absolutely delighted if that had been the case because the existence of an ‘enemy’ in power which would like to impose pressure on the people’s lifestyles would have been revealed to the masses who were not aware of this,” remarks Görmüş.
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