The 34th edition of the Istanbul Film Festival is seriously disturbed by the Kurdish question.
At least 20 directors withdrew their film selection and the traditional award has been removed, after the cancellation, at the request of the Turkish Ministry of Culture, a documentary about the militants of Kurdistan Workers' Party ( PKK).
"We demand the freedom to show the films that we have selected in our program without the need for any document, in a festival context, cultural activities, as happens elsewhere in the world. If the film has not this document, what it means, it is censored "asks Azize Tan, director of the Istanbul Film Festival.
The Ministry of Culture has estimated Monday that the accusations reached on freedom of expression were baseless, calling the members of the festival "irresponsible."
These filmmakers themselves, denounced a political agenda.
"Movie theaters should be open to the public, you buy a ticket, you go see the movie and then you say what you think, without feeling fear. It does not help the peace process, "suggests the director Erol Mintas.
Directed by Cayan Demirel and Ertugrul Mavioglu, the documentary "Bakur" traces the daily life of PKK fighters, with whom Ankara began a peace process in 2012.
The day before the cancellation of the film, deadly fighting took place in the south-east.
"The most important Turkish film festival will neither reward nor closing ceremony for this edition, and the relations between Turkey and the Kurds are expected to deteriorate again, so it's a sad record" said the special envoy of Euronews in Istanbul, Wolfgang Spindler.
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