ANKARA (AA) - The Basic Civil Court in Ankara has started on Tuesday hearing the lawsuit filed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the satirical weekly Penguen with the request of a compensation of nearly 28.6 thousand USD.
Prime Minister Erdogan is accusing Erdil Yasaroglu, owner of the weekly, of publicly humiliating him by publishing drawings of his face attached to a frog, a camel, a monkey, a snake, a duck and an elephant, and seeking a compensation of nearly 28.6 thousand USD.
Yasaroglu's lawyers submitted a written defense to the court in response to allegations in the complaint.
The defense says, ''for years, many politicians in the world and in Turkey have been portrayed in the forms of animals and they have laughed at them. However, Erdogan has not shown the same kind of tolerance.''
''If the court rules that Prime Minister Erdogan's individual rights are violated because of the drawings, its decision contradicts the level of development of art in modern and democratic societies. The drawings did not equate Mr. Erdogan with those animals. Those drawings were published in order to show solidarity with cartoonist Musa Kart who was sued by Prime Minister Erdogan on the pretext that he was humiliated by a cartoon which portrayed him as a cat entangled in a ball of wool,'' the defense noted.
The hearing was adjourned until July 5th to allow Prime Minister Erdogan's lawyers to examine the written defense and prepare a response.
Penguen published the drawings on its front cover on February 24th, 2005.
(UK-MS)
2005-05-17