ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—A competition for poetry offending Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been launched by British journalist Douglas Murray in the UK newspaper The Spectator.
Dubbing it The President Erdogan Offensive Poetry Competition, Murray invited readers to celebrate the freedom of speech that comes with not living under the strict blasphemy laws that exist in Turkey.
Murray was inspired to create the competition after German comedian Jan Böhmermann faced prosecution for reading a poem that was rude about Erdogan on German television. Within days of Böhmermann’s poetry reading, Ankara complained to Berlin and the TV programme was taken off the air.
Ankara has demanded criminal proceedings be launched against Böhmermann citing an archaic German law making it illegal to insult representatives of foreign states. Under the law, German authorities had no choice but to allow the complaint to proceed. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the matter rests with the prosecutor who will decide whether or not to press charges.
Merkel has also indicated that her government would repeal the rarely used law.
The German government has been treating the matter delicately, drawing criticism that they are sacrificing freedom of speech for Turkey’s continued cooperation in halting the flow of refugees to Europe.
Murray first launched the competition without a prize for the winner, “except perhaps for our continuing freedom,” he said. But after publicizing the contest, a Spectator reader donated £1000 as a prize for the winning poem. The winning poem will be announced on June 23.
Since becoming president in 2014, over 1800 criminal cases against persons accused of insulting Erdogan have been opened. A case against Bilgin Çiftçi, a physician and civil servant, in 2015 gained worldwide attention. Çiftçi compared Erdogan’s expressions to those of Gollum, a character from the Lord of the Rings films.
Dubbing it The President Erdogan Offensive Poetry Competition, Murray invited readers to celebrate the freedom of speech that comes with not living under the strict blasphemy laws that exist in Turkey.
Murray was inspired to create the competition after German comedian Jan Böhmermann faced prosecution for reading a poem that was rude about Erdogan on German television. Within days of Böhmermann’s poetry reading, Ankara complained to Berlin and the TV programme was taken off the air.
Ankara has demanded criminal proceedings be launched against Böhmermann citing an archaic German law making it illegal to insult representatives of foreign states. Under the law, German authorities had no choice but to allow the complaint to proceed. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the matter rests with the prosecutor who will decide whether or not to press charges.
Merkel has also indicated that her government would repeal the rarely used law.
The German government has been treating the matter delicately, drawing criticism that they are sacrificing freedom of speech for Turkey’s continued cooperation in halting the flow of refugees to Europe.
Murray first launched the competition without a prize for the winner, “except perhaps for our continuing freedom,” he said. But after publicizing the contest, a Spectator reader donated £1000 as a prize for the winning poem. The winning poem will be announced on June 23.
Since becoming president in 2014, over 1800 criminal cases against persons accused of insulting Erdogan have been opened. A case against Bilgin Çiftçi, a physician and civil servant, in 2015 gained worldwide attention. Çiftçi compared Erdogan’s expressions to those of Gollum, a character from the Lord of the Rings films.
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