Following the May 7 performance of Metin Zakoğlu’s play “Hayrola Kayrola” at the Atatürk Cultural Center since February, the May 29 performance of the same play and the performances of Zakoğlu’s play “Bir Delinin Hatıra Defteri” scheduled for May 24 and June 4-12-26 were canceled by the Central Directorate of Revolving Fund Management under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Istanbul Atatürk Cultural Center Revolving Fund Management Directorate.
Zakoğlu stated that his joke about Murat Kurum was verbally expressed to him as a reason for his performances. Speaking to Işıl Çalışkan from BirGün, Zakoğlu said, “We signed a contract with the AKM management to perform my plays Ferhan Şensoy’s Hayrola Kayrola for Hayrola Kayrola in February and Gogol’s Bir Delinin Hatıra Defteri in April. But in the last play, I was censored because of a joke I made about Murat Kurum that did not contain any insult. All my plays were canceled without question because of the joke I made about Kurum calling Küçükçekmece on the Anatolian side. There was no warning in the cancellation petition. I do not have any insulting sentences.”
“I never accept this antidemocratic and unlawful situation,” Zakoğlu said:
“The mouths of artists are not a bag, and no one can tighten them. No one can kick an artist out of an artist venue with a very innocent joke without an official registered document. My lawyers will apply to all necessary authorities for the termination of the contract. Atatürk Cultural Center is not an AKP cultural center. It is a valuable cultural center named after Atatürk, where artists meet with the audience. No one can impose censorship on artists. How dare they throw me out of AKM in a way that victimizes both me and my audience?”
