... controversy around a new statue in the Mediterranean resort town of Kemer (Antalya). The modern statue of an abstract male figure lifting a woman, that does not show any organs, was created by the Turkish sculptor Zafer Sari and was placed in a busy intersection. It is now attacked by some residents who call it “pornographic” and “immoral” and warn the municipality that the statue would be stoned down after Friday prayers if it was not removed.
Kemer’s CHP Mayor Hasan Seker said that they would continue to decorate the town that attracts tourism, with more artwork.
In response Zafer Yaman, the head of AKP in Kemer said, “I am ashamed to look at that statue. What is the meaning of this? What does it serve? Will the next statue depict another [sexual] position?”
Mainstream secular media, along with Turkish artists express outrage by the Islamists’ reactions to a work of art and by their “sick” and “dirty” interpretations of it.
MEMRI September 6, 2007
