Turkish film ban breaks accession rules

Date: 23/05/02

By David Cronin

TURKEY'S ban on a movie depicting police brutality flouts the conditions required for the country's EU membership, enlargement chief Günter Verheugen has warned.

National film censors ruled in March that the picture Big Man, Small Love should be banned after police had objected to it.

'Apparently, the police were offended by a scene in the film of a bloody police raid on a Kurdish house,' Verheugen responded to a recent Parliamentary question.

'The ban is clearly not in line with the principles of freedom of expression under the Copenhagen political criteria.'

Greek centre-right MEPs Stavros Xarchakos and Ionnais Marinos originally raised the matter with the Commission, noting that the film was financed partly by the Turkish Ministry of Culture.

Complaints were raised by the authorities about the inclusion of Kurdish dialogue in its plot, even though it would have been shown in cinemas with Turkish subtitles.

Tensions between Brussels and Ankara over the treatment of Turkey's 12 million Kurds have been acute in the last few months.

Turkey's ban on a movie depicting police brutality flouts the conditions required for the country's EU membership, Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen has warned.