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News Diplomacy |
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EP member backs singer Bülent Ersoy for ‘unpatriotic’ remarks
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Cem Özdemir, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany’s Green Party, has expressed support for singer Bülent Ersoy, who in recent remarks complained that Turkish soldiers were losing their lives in vain, in a reference to the number of soldiers killed in an ongoing operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
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Ersoy, a transsexual singer and popular television host, said on a Sunday evening television show that if she were to give birth, she would not let her son fight in other people’s wars. The singer said people were always making clichéd statements about the slain soldiers without giving much thought to how to end the conflict. “Bülent Ersoy is voicing the pain felt by mothers, and she is also questioning the ongoing Iraqi operation,” said Özdemir. He also noted that Ersoy was not only expressing the feelings of millions of people but also demonstrating a democratic stance as an inquisitive citizen. Ersoy’s remarks were found unpatriotic by some, and a prosecutor in Bakırköy has launched an investigation into Ersoy on grounds that her remarks had the purpose of “making the public detest military service,” a crime under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Özdemir also found launching an investigation into Ersoy’s remarks to be worrisome. “We hope that a period of suppression is not started in Turkey that will deal a heavy blow to freedom of thought,” added Özdemir.
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SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI
BRUSSELS
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Benzer Haberler 
Diplomacy
