Justice Ministry blasts new Turkish TV series on women’s prison
ANKARA
The Justice Ministry has sent a letter of complaint to the Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) regarding the still unaired television series “Avlu” (prison yard in Turkish), stating that the show depicted prison personnel as “torturers” and the prison as a “torture center.”
The Directorate General of the Prisons and Detention Houses, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, also said the TV series would serve “the purposes of some terror organizations” and demanded that “necessary measures be taken before the show was aired,” daily Cumhuriyet reported on March 18.
The March 13-dated letter claimed that the new TV series about the inmates of a women’s prison would “stain the professional dignity” of personnel working for the Directorate General of the Prisons and Detention Houses. “Broadcasting of such TV series puts our personnel in a tight spot, overshadows all training and improvement activities conducted, and ignores all works run,” the letter read.
“Although such images have been indicated as completely fictional, they feed into public perceptions that prisons impose torture [on inmates]… The promotion of such perceptions of prisons serve the purposes of some terror organizations,” the letter further indicated.
Taking into account the contents of the letter, the Directorate General of the Prisons and Detention Houses demanded that “necessary measures be taken before the relevant TV series was televised” in the 6112 numbered law’s eighth article on media services.
The RTÜK has not yet evaluated the ministry’s demand and it is unclear whether the council will include the issue on its agenda during its weekly meeting on March 20.
