Deputy gets apology for series character

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

CHP deputy Nur Serter vows to file a complaint for the character in the TV series. Hürriyet photo

A production firm publicly apologized to opposition deputy Nur Serter yesterday after she vowed to file a lawsuit over a new television series character – a prostitute-turned-brothel owner – bearing the same name as she.

“We apologize to both Ms. Fatma Nur Serter and the public for this incident that has come about due to a computer mistake, even though [this mistake] has not figured into the [actual] broadcast,” read the written apology issued by Süreç Filming, the company that produced the new series “Uçurum” (Abyss).

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Serter said the use of both her first and last names in the series could not be coincidental. “I am of the opinion [my name] was inserted there to serve a certain purpose,” she said, according to daily Hürriyet.

Serter also issued a warning through her lawyer and filed a complaint with the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK).

“I got the impression that a connection may have been drawn between the life of imprisonment spent by girls who are tortured and forced into prostitution in a closed space and me,” Serter said.

Despite claims by the production firm the name “Nur Serter” was used in the series due to an editorial error, the incident has led to condemnations from various quarters.

“To friends who bring up the repression committed by Nur Serter during her political/academic career: That behavior does not excuse the conduct she is affronted with today and the insult her name and person were subjected to [...] Those who issued this insult must apologize clearly, unequivocally and strongly,” Ömer Çelik, the deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), wrote in a Twitter message.

The CHP’s group deputy leader Akif Hamzaçebi also condemned the incident yesterday and demanded an apology, according to the Anatolia news agency.

“This apology will not compensate for Serter’s broken pride and injured sense of dignity. This apology, however, will perhaps prevent the rhetoric of hate from taking root in this society to a certain degree,” Hamzaçebi said.

Serter reportedly encountered the character bearing her name while she was reading a supplement of daily Sabah. “She is Yaman’s right arm [...] She both has a crush on him and hates him at the same time. She has moved on from prostitution to being a brothel owner,” read the series’ advertisement in the daily’s supplement.