Pressures, investigations and incentive policies in culture and arts
While pressures, investigations and cancellations in the culture and arts sector continue on the grounds of obscenity and public morality, compliant productions are encouraged with public resources.
While investigations, concert cancellations, arrests and targeting campaigns targeting the culture and arts field continue to diversify on the grounds of obscenity, public morality and the protection of the family structure, compliant productions and contents are rewarded with public resources.
Pressures in Culture and Arts
Pressures and bans in the culture and arts sector continue on grounds such as obscenity, public morality, and the protection of the family and children. These interventions are carried out not through a single institution alone, but as a collective campaign via social media targeting, CİMER (Presidential Communication Center) applications, and publications close to the government.
Investigations and Arrests
While an investigation was launched regarding Mabel Matiz's song 'Ha Leylim' and an international travel ban was imposed, Tolga Akış, the founder and manager of the Manifest group, was arrested on charges of mediating the publication of obscene broadcasts.
Özlem Altunok from the Susma Platform stated that the repertoire of interventions has expanded and that Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) has been transformed into an intervention mechanism that determines social norms.
Concert Cancellations and Targeting
Electronic music artist Anyma's Istanbul concert was targeted on claims of a satanic ritual before it even took place, creating an atmosphere as if the governorate had canceled it.
Under the normative family discourse that intensified with the declaration of 2025 as the Year of the Family, popular figures are discredited through practices such as RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) decisions and drug operations.
Incentive Mechanisms with Public Resources
On the other side of the pressure are mechanisms such as the Family and Child-Friendly Production and Series Incentive Awards in cooperation with the Ministry of Family and Social Services and RTÜK. Through such practices, acceptable contents are rewarded using public resources.
Self-Censorship and Call for Solidarity
The subjectivity and ambiguity of concepts spread self-censorship among artists, producers, and local governments. Names such as comedian Deniz Göktaş—who was arrested over the Dead Sea show and re-arrested immediately after his release—and Mabel Matiz are subjected to penalty packages containing multiple charges.
Özlem Altunok calls for concrete solidarity against institutionalized censorship and self-censorship.