Turkish Daily News
June 6 2008
Erecting sculptures of democracy heroes
Friday, June 6, 2008
BeÅ?iktaÅ? Municipality plans to erect sculptures of 12
assassinated Turkish intellectuals who fought for democracy throughout
their lives, in a park called Heroes of Democracy. They will be
erected by the end of June
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
Sculptures of 12 Turkish intellectuals who were victims of politically
motivated murders in recent decades have been completed by a group of
Turkish artists and will soon be erected in a park in the heart of
Istanbul.
Seven academics from Mimar Sinan University, or MSÃ`’s, sculpting
department were first brought together for a workshop at the historic
Tophane-i Amire building, and, after months of tiring and meticulous
work, have created the sculptures.
The sculptures are of intellectuals UÄ?ur Mumcu, Muammer Aksoy,
Asım Bezirci, Bahriye Ã`çok, Ã`mit DoÄ?anay,
Onat Kutlar, Abdi Ä°pekçi, DoÄ?an Ã-z,
�etin Emeç, Bedrettin Cömert, Ahmet Taner
KıÅ?lalı, and Cavit Orhan Tütengil.
At last week’s workshop by Professor Ferit Ã-zÅ?en, who
directs the Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture, the sculptures
were finally poured into their bronze molds. The "12 Intellectuals"
project is the second collective project by the Anıtkabir
group.
In addition to Ã-zÅ?en, the group of sculptors included
MSÃ` professors Rahmi Sungur, the dean of the Fine Arts Department;
Vedat Somay, chairman of the Sculpture Department; and Fatma
Akyürek, Ayla Aksungur, Yıldız Güner and
Ã-nder Büyükerman.
To make the sculptures resemble the real-life figures as closely as
possible, they were examined by academics familiar with each figure.
The idea for producing sculptures of assassinated intellectuals came
from Ä°smail Ã`nal, mayor of Istanbul’s
BeÅ?iktaÅ? district, who suggested a list of 53 names,
including Hrant Dink, editor in chief of the Turkish-Armenian
bilingual weekly Agos, who was assassinated in front of the
newspaper’s building on Jan. 19, 2007.
Although the idea of creating Dink’s sculpture was welcomed
enthusiastically, the project was postponed due to security
concerns. `Turkey is undergoing quite a sensitive process. At the
moment, if we erect Dink’s sculpture in a public space, some would
probably break it into pieces. That is the reason of the delay,’ said
a member of board of sculptors.
Families of the 12 assassinated intellectuals also have concerns that
their sculptures might be attacked. This project, unfortunately, did
not make them happy, according to members of the board
Intellectual activity, which is simply an exercise of freedom of
thought, should not be a crime in Turkey any longer, the academics
said, pointing to the freedom of expression enshrined in the
Constitution. They said they do not want people killed in Turkey
simply because they express their ideas.
The sculptures will be erected in the Heroes of Democracy park,
located on a 10,000-square meter area near the Emlak Konutları
(Emlak Residences) in the 4.Levent district of Istanbul. The group
said BeÅ?iktaÅ? Municipality has not yet made any
preparations for the opening ceremony, but officials from the
municipality reject that claim, saying the sculptures will be erected
in the park by the end of June at the latest.
At the initial stage of the project, academics first made to-scale
models one-fifth the size of the end product. Somay chose to make a
sculpture of journalist Onat Kutlar, who died in a bomb attack against
him in Taksim in 1994, and political scientist Ã`mit YaÅ?ar
DoÄ?anay, who was murdered in 1979.
`Kutlar was the idol of my housemate during my student life,’ said
Somay, explaining why she chose to make his sculpture.
The project is significant but needs more time and financial support,
said Somay, adding the state does not have a sufficient budget for
such projects in Turkey, so the artists must work with fluid
capital. The artists and academics who produced the sculptures of the
12 intellectuals will be paid only a 40 percent share in return for
their four month long effort.
About 37 percent of their 40 percent share will be paid as tax.
Turkey owes a lot to its murdered intellectuals
Ã-zÅ?en said he experienced the time period in which the 12
intellectuals were murdered. `The cost of thinking and expressing
one’s thoughts is being killed in Turkey,’ he said, adding many
intellectuals still refrain from expressing their views for the fear
of being killed. `Turkish society owes much to its murdered
intellectuals and it should express its loyalty to them. The
sculptures made for the "12 Intellectuals" project are sculptures of
intellectuals who lost their lives for a better Turkey,’ said
Ã-zÅ?en, who created the sculpture of journalist UÄ?ur
Mumcu, who died in a bomb attack in 1994, and lawyer and politician
Muammer Aksoy, who was assassinated in 1990.
The sculptures are fashioned out of bronze to ensure they cannot
easily be destroyed, in response to the concerns of the artists and
others. Some people might even attempt to remove the sculptures, they
said of their enduring fear.