The exhibition ‘Starting from the Middle’, where 19 curators and 300 artists participated and more than 400 works were exhibited, was opened on June 22. It was targeted from the moment it opened, picketed in front of the venue on the grounds of “perversion” and was attacked.
A criminal complaint was filed against the exhibition on July 24 by the Yesevi Alperenler Education, Culture and Solidarity Association, alleging that it “contains obscenity and perversion”. According to the news report in Sözcü Newspaper’s İsmail Saymaz, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation on grounds of “publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility and humiliating”. The prosecutor asked the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality for the names and addresses of those involved in the organization of the exhibition.
The statements in the prosecutor’s letter are as follows: “It is requested that the clear identity and address information of the person(s) responsible for the organization of the exhibition titled ‘Starting from the Middle’ be determined and the documents to be prepared be sent to our chief public prosecutor’s office immediately.”
