“Japan is one of [pianist] Fazil Say’s favorite countries. He flew there two weeks ago to give eight concerts. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to go to China and then to St. Petersburg and Zurich. Yet the people of Ankara can no longer enjoy his works, for the city’s most prestigious orchestra has removed Say from its program,” Radikal columnist Cem Erciyes wrote Oct. 21, reporting on the latest case of state censorship of the arts in Turkey.
Say, the internationally renowned pianist and composer, has often drawn the ire of the Justice and Development Party government, landing right on the fault line of Turkey’s political and social divide. And when this polarization spawns censorship and embargoes on the artistic community, the outcry is inevitably loud.
