The play “Haylo Dîsa Tevlihev bû” by ŞanoWan (a theatre company based in Van province), organized by Serhed Culture and Art Association (Serhed Kültür ve Sanat Derneği) was planned to be staged on June 19, but was prevented by the police on grounds that Tatvan District-Governorate had banned the play. The police were unable to present the group ŞanoWan a written document showing the district-governorate’s ban.
According to a news report by Mezopotamya Agency, Hüseyin Olan, the MP for Bitlis from the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) submitted a written inquiry to the Parliament on June 20 directed at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the response given by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ali Yerlikaya, on October 30, it was stated that the district-governorate did not have an official written decision regarding the ban. The response also stated that an application was made to the district-governorate regarding the play which then was forwarded to the Tatvan Municipality Cultural Center. The Centre replied that there was a malfunction in the lighting system in the conference hall of the centre, as such that the performance of the play was not possible due to technical difficulties.
