PROPOSAL TO BAN FRENCH MOVIES AND BROADCASTS ON TRT

Turkish Daily News, Turkey
The Corridor
Nov 5 2006

We heard of many proposals to hurt France after its parliament passed
a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide. Some called for
a boycott of French goods, while some singers canceled their shows
in France. Some more interesting proposals have come in the past
few weeks. CHP deputy from Yozgat Emin Koc noted that Radio France
International (RFI) had stopped its broadcasts in Turkish and asked
the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) to counter this
by suspending its French broadcasts. In a parliamentary question he
submitted, Koc asked State Minister Beºir Atalay whether RFI could
be told that the broadcasts would be suspended until they reinstated
the Turkish broadcasts. He didn’t stop there.

"Which French movies has TRT purchased for this year? Is it considering
broadcasting them on its channels? What are you considering doing
about countering the genocide allegations?"

Meanwhile, the Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTUK)
recommended that TRT should boycott media products coming from France.

No one objects to protest actions that are within sensible limits.

However, limitations imposed on the arts, literature, cinema and
culture are defined as censorship, and that is a bit beyond what we
should deem acceptable. Tomorrow, someone may come up with an idea to
ban Edith Piaf, Victor Hugo, Francoise Sagan, Montaigne, Pierre Loti,
Montesquieu, Stendhal, Jean Paul Sartre, Moliere or Emil Zola. What
if we are called to prevent our children from reading Jules Verne?

Will we accept that too?

–Boundary_(ID_tCsbeBULo+czmjiEqN50Ag)–