Publishers call for action against the head of library

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

This photo shows the 19th edition of the theater magazine ‘Mimesis.’

The Turkish Publishers’ Union issued a written statement yesterday about the Elazığ Public Library’s ban of the theater magazine Mimesis. The library’s head, Ahmet Pirinççi, had refused to include a certain issue of the magazine in the library’s collection because it contained historical drawings dating back to the fifth century which he felt were obscene.

The head of a public library does not have the right to declare published material “obscene” and prevent public access to it, the statement from the Turkish Publishers’ Union read. The statement also said that library had requested the magazine’s publisher to stop sending new issues of the magazine, even as donations. “The magazine is an academic publication prepared for presentation to readers in public libraries. The so-called obscene article is a translation of an academic, scientific article, and the visuals in it are figures on ancient Greek vases and glasses that date back to the fifth century,” the statement said.
The Turkish Publishers’ Union asked the Culture and Tourism Ministry Libraries and Publications General Directorate to take action against the library director.

The controversial drawings were found in an article published in 2004 about the depiction of women in ancient Greek theater.