#cagdas erdogan

[guerillas-of-history]

An armed YDG-H member gets ready to attack Turkish security forces in the south-eastern Turkish city of Nusaybin(Photo: CAGDAS ERDOGAN/GETTY IMAGES)

[acervorevolucionario]

Membro do Movimento da Juventude Patriótica Revolucionária (YDG-H), ala jovem do Partido dos Trabalhadores do Curdistão (PKK). Nusaybin, Turquia, 26 de fevereiro de 2016. Foto por Cagdas Erdogan.

[zoevaldes]

Cagdas Erdogan, le plaisir malgré la répression Origen: Cagdas Erdogan, le plaisir malgré la répression

[kitsssune]

http://cagdaserdogan6.visura.co/control

[thephotographicreview]

© cagdas erdogan

[seenmagazine]

Cagdas Erdogan⠀ From the series "CONTROL"⠀ Full series : Link in bio — view on Instagram http://bit.ly/2UVXOdg

[harunyahyabooks]

HARUN YAHYA BOOKS ARE BEING DESTROYED BRUTALLY

THE BOOKS WHICH DO NOT CONSIST ANY SINGLE ELEMENT OF CRIME AND WHICH ARE CERTIFIED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE ARE BEING DESTROYED ILLEGALLY! THESE BOOKS DISCUSS VARIOUS TOPICS SUCH AS; THE LIVES OF THE PROPHETS, MORAL VALUES OF THE QURAN, FACTS OF CREATION, MIRACLES OF THE QURAN, THE ISLAMIC UNION, PATRIOTISM, LOVE OF ATATURK, THE RISKS OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS PKK-PYD-PYD AND ISIS, THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO ROOM FOR TERRORISM IN ISLAM, THE OPPRESSION MUSLIM WORLD FACES TODAY...

In regards to the ongoing proceedings about the client Adnan Oktar and his friends, the TMSF (Saving Deposit Insurance Fund - SDIF) Board members Abdulkadir Kocak and Cagdas Ekici issued a warrant on October 28th, 2019 and with this warrant requested that the books by the client Adnan Oktar to be destroyed based on the claim that supposedly they consist organization propaganda and again supposedly they cause steady and constant damage. Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office directed this very demand (with tacit acceptance) to the Criminal Court where the trials are being carried and demanded a verdict.

First of all, we need to state and draw attention to the important fact that SDIF HAS GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF ITS DUTY, AND EVEN MISCONDUCTED. Regrettably, the Office of the Chief Prosecutor has also associated with this attitude which is far from being well-disposed.

It is improper and also far from being well-disposed that SDIF commented as such on the publications of the client without reviewing any single one of them, and without being based on any legal opinion.

The books of the client;

REVEAL THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF CREATION AND THUS PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF GOD,

INTEND THAT MORAL VALUES OF QURAN BECOME PREVALENT AMONG PEOPLE, THUS MORE PEOPLE HAVE GOOD MORALS,

COMMUNICATE THE MIRACLES OF THE QURAN, THUS PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THE QURAN FIRMLY,

MENTION ABOUT THE SUPERIOR LIVES AND STRUGGLE OF THE PROPHETS, THUS PEOPLE WILL TAKE THE PROPHETS AS A GUIDE IN THEIR OWN LIVES,

LAY EMPHASIS ON THE ISLAMIC UNION, THUS, TERMINATE THE CLASH AMONG THE MUSLIMS AND ESTABLISH STRONG ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION,

REVEAL THE INTENTIONS OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE PKK, ISIS, AND FETO, THUS, SHOW THE WAYS TO STRUGGLE AGAINST AND BRING PEACE TO OUR COUNTRY AND TO THE WHOLE WORLD,

REFUTE THE IDEOLOGIES OF COMMUNISM AND FASCISM, THUS, INTEND TO SAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKEN AWAY WITH SUCH IDEOLOGIES AND DRAGGED TO ILLEGAL ACTS,

PRESENT ATATURKISM IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY, THUS, PROMOTE AND PUBLICIZE,

SUBSTANTIATE THE DARK OPERATIONS OF “THE BRITISH DEEP STATE” –AS ADDRESSED BY THE EXPERTS-

LEAD MANY PEOPLE TO BELIEVE IN GOD’S EXISTENCE, AND TO KNOW ISLAM, AND TO TURN TOWARDS ISLAM.

EVALUATING THESE PUBLICATIONS, WHICH CREATE GREAT IMPACT AROUND THE WORLD AND LEAD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO ISLAM, AS ORGANIZATIONAL PROPAGANDA AND REQUESTING TO SELL THEM AS “JUNK” IN ORDER TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE OPERATIONS REGARDING THE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION TOTALLY CONFLICTS WITH THE LAW, AND REASON, AND CONSCIENCE.

THIS REVIEW WHICH MEANS DESTROYING THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE CLIENT IS TOTALLY DISRESPECTFUL TO ISLAMIC VALUES AND ALSO IS IN CONTRADICTORY WITH THE INTEREST OF OUR NATION AND GOVERNMENT. AND THAT IS BECAUSE;

A- SDIF BOARD OF DIRECTORS' OPINION ON THE DESTRUCTION OF THE INTELLECTUAL WORKS OF THE CLIENT IS VIOLATION OF RESPECT FOR OUR RELIGIOUS VALUES SUCH AS OUR FAITH IN GOD AND ISLAMIC VALUES AND THEREFORE IT DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS WITH THE PRINCIPLE OF PRESERVING PUBLIC PEACE

It is highly disrespectful against Islamic values that SDIF Board Members stated an opinion on selling the client's publications as junk. This becomes obvious when the content of the client's works are analyzed since their content is majorly about God’s Creation, moral values of the Quran, miracles of the Quran, lives of our Prophets and Islamic Unity. Here are some of the covers of his books on these topics:

Names of the above books (from left to right); Importance of Patience in the Quran – The Miracles of our Prophet (pbuh) – In the Name of Allah the all Merciful the most Merciful – Prayer in the Quran – Paradise – Timelessness and the Reality of Fate – Allah’s Artistry in Color – Muslim Way of Speaking – A Call to Islamic Union

As clearly seen even from the title of the books, the content of the client's works is based on our God’s Names, and verses of the Quran, with the moral values of the Quran. These works include tens of thousands of Quranic verses, thousands of sayings from our Prophet (pbuh), thousands of explanations from Islamic scholars praising Our Lord and His religion, as well as tens of thousands of evidences for God's Creation.

Selling these works as junk material, which is actually their destruction, would mean destroying the books through which many people have found faith through the facts of Creation, sayings of our Prophet (pbuh), and the Quran verses. Therefore, selling these works as junk material is a direct disrespect against God and Islamic values.Moreover, it will also cause a delay in intellectual activities conducted by other Muslims across the world to preach Islam.

Considering that even the online versions of the client's publications have been downloaded in millions, it is an obvious fact that the destruction of these works would do no good for the Islamic cause.

Nowadays, such practices as the destruction of books are not even followed or preferred in the countries such as North Korea, or China. Therefore, it is quite distressing even to mention it in Turkey, known as the protector of all Muslims, and therefore this matter requires immediate attention.

B- SDIF BOARD OF DIRECTOR'S OPINION TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE CLIENT IS ALSO –INDIRECTLY- IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW TO PROTECT ATATURK'S LEGACY

The works of the client on which the SDIF board made a decision also include the books on Ataturkism, promoting and publicizing his ideologies. Here are some of the covers of these books:

Names of the above books (from left to right); Sincere devoted Ataturk – Importance of the National Unity – The love of country and nation of Ataturk – Real Ataturkism – Ataturk and Youth – Importance of Devotion to the State – Ataturk Encylopedia Vol 1 – Ataturk Encylopedia Vol 2 – Understanding Ataturk Well

In case the opinion of SDIF Board of Directors to destroy the client's works is put into practice, the above-mentioned works praising Ataturk, Ataturk's ideologies and Ataturkism will also be destroyed and this will constitute a direct insult to the founder of Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and it will be an act against the basic ideologies that support our country and our nation to prosper and develop.

C- SDIF BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S OPINION OF DESTROYING THE BOOKS OF THE CLIENT IMPLICITLY CONTRADICTS WITH THE ANTI-TERROR LAW

The client Adnan Oktar has been carrying his cultural activities for the past 40 years and his works have been very influential during the struggle against terrorism. The client Adnan Oktar wrote many books in order to make contributions to the fight against terrorist organizations such as PKK, ISIS, AL QAEDA and also FETO. Some of his book covers on these topics are as below:

Names of the above books (from left to right); Islam Denounces Terrorism, The Danger of Communist Kurdistan, Americas Failure to Perceive the PKK, The Communist Terrorist Irreligious Organization PKK, Only Love can Defeat Terrorism, Devil’s Ritual; Terrorism

If the opinion of SDIF Board of Director for destroying the books of the client is followed, the books which are highly influential against terrorism, some of which are shown as above, will be destroyed.

For instance; especially during these days our country has been hugely pressurized on the fight against ISIS, if the client's books are destroyed, then Muslims will no longer have access to the content of the client’s book “Islam Denounces Terrorism” which explicitly put forth the grounds that Muslims never apply terrorism along with the verses about peace, love, brotherhood, and justice in the Quran. Similarly, the client’s books named as "America's Failure to Perceive the PKK" and "The Danger of a Communist Kurdistan" which were published to give support to our government's rightful fight against terrorist PKK for successful military operations, will also not be accessible to the readers. It is absolutely clear that this is certainly not in favor of our government or our nation and to Muslims.

D- SDIF BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S OPINION OF DESTROYING THE BOOKS OF THE CLIENT IS STRICTLY IN CONTRADICTORY WITH OUR GOVERNMENT’S POLICY

The client Adnan Oktar's works which invite people to the values of the Qur'an and to the Turkish Islamic Union, his works against Darwinism and against terrorism, his books aiming to bring end the weakness of faith and irreligiousness are completely in line with the policies of our government.

The efforts of AK Party, which has been in power for 17 years, MHP the nationalist movement party, and of course the head of AK Party Messrs. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the purpose of constituting faithful generation, the mosques being visited by large crowds as it was in the past, the Muslim countries' being united in all realms, eliminating terrorist organizations such as PKK, ISIS, and FETO are known by all.

We all know that these efforts highly crucial. It is clear that irreligiousness started to spread in our country as well as the rest of the world; the mosques are emptied, people fall prey to the ideologies of the terrorist organizations by being radicalized; conflicts, separation, and lovelessness have widely spread in our country as it has across the world. In fact, these facts are also expressed by the state authorities, and get published at newspapers’ headlines:

Erdogan spoke during the Holy Birth Week celebrations at Istanbul Sinan Erdem; We will be gathered under the roof Islam. Let’s not allow the clash of sects. Be Turkish, be Cherkes, no matter. We are all Muslims, and we will unite here. We cannot be saved from terror if there is racism or sectarianism.

While the problems in Turkey and in the rest of the Muslim World are explicit, and are often being uttered by Messrs. President Erdogan at the first place, and also many other politicians, scholars, thinkers, philosopher, and sociologists, we are of the opinion that SDIF Board of Directors’ demand to destroy the books published by the client Adnan Oktar in order to get rid of these problems is not well-intentioned.

SUCH AN OPINION WOULD ACTUALLY HARM OUR COUNTRY AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD, RATHER THAN HARMING THE CLIENT AND HIS FRIENDS.It is clear that such a demand will never avail favor to our government and to our nation. We cannot understand what is the actual purpose behind destroying the client’s books, which all support our government’s policy would serve. It certainly needs to be investigated what could have SDIF be intending with the annihilation of the books which provide useful content for our state, nation and the government.

E- COMMUNICATING ISLAM, THE MIRACLES OF THE QURAN, THE ISLAMIC UNITY, FACTS OF CREATION, AND THE TERRORISM THREAT IS NOT ORGANIZATIONAL PROPAGANDA

While SDIF Board of Directors publishes its opinion for destroying the books by the client Adnan Oktar, they claim that the books were written and published for the purpose of organizational propaganda.

It is impossible to agree with this consideration. Not only this consideration lacks any legal evidence, but it is absolutely far from being objective as well.

The client Adnan Oktar and his friends are not members of a criminal organization. In fact, such allegation is currently the subject of the currently ongoing trial. Istanbul 30th High Criminal Court has been conducting the legal proceedings on this prosecution case. As the trial has not yet come to an end, there is no decision that supports the SDIF Board of Directors’ evaluation. SDIF Board of Directors came to a decision alone about an ongoing trial, and they are of the opinion to annihilate the books in the direction of their decision. As it is clear, it is not compatible with law and conscience to act upon to such point of view.

In addition to all, it should be indicated that communicating Islam, the miracles of Qur'an, Islamic Union, facts of Creation, the indivisible unity of the state, and the danger of terrorism cannot be evaluated as a terrorist propaganda in anywhere in the world. All Muslims know that all cultural activities in this direction are a requirement of Allah’s orders to all Muslims as told in the Qur'an. Nevertheless, the SDIF Board of Directors has made such a perilous statement about the books by the client Adnan Oktar, which are in fact highly beneficial to our government at all respects all along the line, that these books were written and spread for the purpose of organizational propaganda. If the court makes a verdict in the direction of this extremely erroneous evaluation, this verdict would also be so perilous to make its mark in history.

F- THE FACULTY OF DIVINITY ASSOCIATES HAVE EXPRESSED OPINION THAT THEY FIND THE CLIENT ADNAN OKTAR’S PUBLICATIONS AS COMPATIBLE AND ALSO BENEFICIAL TO ISLAM

Despite the fact that the SDIF Board of Directors has the opinion that the client’s publications are organizational propaganda, many members of the Faculty of Divinity published opinion previously that the publications of the client are compatible with Islam and also they provide benefit for the Muslims. These letters of opinion are submitted in the file of the ongoing proceedings.

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Bayraktar, said as follows about the works of the client Adnan Oktar on his observation dated May 30th, 2000:

“…THERE IS NO SINGLE OPINION THAT CONTRADICTS THE BASIC SOURCE OF ISLAM, WHICH ARE THE QURAN AND SUNNAH. ON THE CONTRARY, THE TRADITIONAL TURKISH-ISLAMIC UNDERSTANDING IS PRESERVED… …”

Prof. Dr. M. Hayri Kirbasoglu said as follows about the works of the client Adnan Oktar on his observation dated March 28th, 2000:

“…As the names of the books alone indicate, they are to be considered as intellectual efforts published as an outcome of the feeling of responsibility for the society against irreligiousness, nihilism, anti-rational understanding of religion, and moral degeneration in general. It is highly positive that almost half of the collection of the books discuss the essential source of Islam, which is the Quran, instead of taking traditional and noncelestial, and hearsay. AGAIN, IT IS EXTREMELY WELL-DIRECTED THAT TWO OF THESE BOOKS WHICH MAKE REFERENCE TO THE QURAN ALSO EMPHASIZE MORALS. No needless to say that these efforts certainly need to be appreciated especially considering the severe current moral degeneration on political, economic, cultural, and other relevant areas in our country, which I believe are not very well comprehended by the authorities….”

The above two legal opinions alone indicate that the outlook of the SDIF Board members on the publications of the client is totally invalid, and has no scientific ground. Therefore, their approach to destroy the publication of the client is also improper and wrong.

We wish to emphasize that; these incidents reveal that certain groups intend to misguide the governmental institutions for the purpose of putting their dark plans against Islam and Muslims into practice. Thus, we believe that utmost attention is required against those dark plans.

11.13. 2019

[lollipoplollipopoh]

Turkey: No country for bold journalists? | The Listening Post by Al Jazeera English Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a rare press briefing for journalists in the country's media capital, Istanbul. In his opening remarks, Erdogan said that freedom of the press was of "vital importance" to him. It was a statement that failed to square with the facts, let alone the numbers. Because for each of the last three years - ever since July of 2016, when an attempted coup failed to depose the president - Turkey has imprisoned more journalists than any other country. For all of those jailed, however, the government has prosecuted a much longer list of media workers whose fates still hang in the balance. It's a state of limbo that has driven many of the accused into exile, to seek asylum abroad. The Listening Post's Flo Phillips spoke to three Turkish journalists - all former editors at newspapers critical of the ruling AK Party - who have fled the country to avoid the prison terms that almost certainly awaited them. Can Dundar was one of the most prominent newspaper editors in Turkey. He ran Cumhuriyet - a centre-left, secular paper that routinely investigated and took on the ruling government. For the last three years, he has been living in Berlin. He came to Berlin after spending time in a Turkish prison for publishing a story exposing illegal arms support - weapons the Turkish intelligence services were providing fighters in Syria. Dundar was sentenced to almost six years behind bars for revealing state secrets, but not before an Erdogan supporter fired two live rounds at him outside the court, missing both times. Asked why he chose exile over remaining in Turkey to fight his appeal, Dundar explained that he had "lost trust in the Turkish judiciary." "After the military coup attempt, Erdogan changed the whole system. The first thing he has done was to arrest the high judges who decided for our release. So they are still in jail. Without independent justice really you can't defend yourself. So that would have been to put in my head into the guillotine," he said. Newspaper Zaman was among the more than 100 media outlets shut down during the government's purging of civil society following the attempted coup of 2016. Zaman's ties to the Gulenist movement - followers of the Islamist leader Fethullah Gulen whom the government blamed for the insurrection - made it an obvious target. Yet for Mahir Zeynalov, former Online Editor for the paper's English-language edition, Today's Zaman, his troubles with the government - as with those of Can Dundar - preceded the coup. "On the 25th of December, 2013 I wrote an article about the corruption case which targeted President Erdogan," Zeynalov told The Listening Post, from his new home in Washington, DC. "And on that day President Erdogan pressed charges against me, seeking up to six years in prison." For Zeynalov, the corruption allegations against the president constitute one of several taboo topics which Turkish journalists broach at their peril. "Another", he says, "is the Kurdish issue." Cagdas Kaplan, former editor of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Yasam, was one of 32 Kurdish journalists arrested back in 2011, and served a year in jail. He had reported on alleged human rights abuses by Turkish government forces against the country's Kurdish minority. At the time of his departure for Athens earlier this year, Kaplan faced another 20-25 years behind bars. In his view, the only prospect for a resurrection of press freedom in Turkey is a fight-back by the journalists themselves. "We have to fight for it, just like our other rights. We have the power to dig up these fundamental rights from the grave. But we can only do that by resisting, otherwise, it's impossible." Contributors: Mahir Zeynalov - editor, The Globe Post & former online editor, Today's Zaman Can Dundar - editor, Ozguruz & former editor, Cumhuriyet Cagdas Kaplan - reporter, Yeni Yasam More from The Listening Post on: YouTube - https://ift.tt/2by8VEv Facebook - https://ift.tt/2c47sbZ Twitter - http://twitter.com/AJListeningPost Website - https://ift.tt/2bya0wg - Subscribe to our channel: https://ift.tt/291RaQr - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1iHo6G4 - Check our website: https://ift.tt/2lOp4tL

[guerillas-of-history]

Since mid-December 2015 Turkish security forces placed several predominantly Kurdish cities under 24-hour martial law and curfew on the premise of restoring public order.

Photographer Cagdas Erdogan shadowed fighters from the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), a youth division of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, in the southeastern Turkish city of Nusaybin.

[ivandimarcofotografo]

Dog fights and sex parties: the man who photographs Istanbul after dark

Çağdaş Erdoğan captures the explosion of underground rebellion in parts of Istanbul. ‘People have been pushed into the night,’ says the photographer who is now facing jail

One day last September, Çağdaş Erdoğan took his camera to Parc Yoğurtçu, a popular spot in Istanbul near the Fenerbahçe football stadium. He took some photographs of the city skyline before finding himself accused by a police officer of deliberately shooting the nearby MİT (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı) building.

This, Erdoğan was told, is used by employees of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation. He was arrested on terrorism charges. A few hours later, his website was taken offline and his social media feeds disabled.

I often felt in danger but I learned how to navigate

Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/03/cagdas-erdogan-photographer-turkey-paris-circulations-control

[fotograf-christopher-kesting]

Fotograf Cagdas Erdogan - Das Auge Istanbuls

Fotograf Cagdas Erdogan – Das Auge Istanbuls

Fotograf Cagdas Erdogan – Das Auge Istanbuls

https://www.zdf.de/politik/auslandsjournal/das-auge-istanbuls-100.html

[trendingnewsb]

Dog fights and sex parties: the man who photographs Istanbul after dark

ada Erdoan captures the explosion of underground rebellion in parts of Istanbul. People have been pushed into the night, says the photographer who is now facing jail

One day last September, ada Erdoan took his camera to Parc Yourtu, a popular spot in Istanbul near the Fenerbahe football stadium. He took some photographs of the city skyline before finding himself accused by a police officer of deliberately shooting the nearby MT (Mill stihbarat Tekilat) building.

This, Erdoan was told, is used by employees of Turkeys National Intelligence Organisation. He was arrested on terrorism charges. A few hours later, his website was taken offline and his social media feeds disabled.

Erdoan, a 26-year-old Kurdish Turk, is part of SO Collective, an anonymous, independent photo agency set up in 2013 by photojournalists who, for many reasons, have been blacklisted by the authorities and marginalised by the now largely state-run media. The group, originally called the State of Emergency Collective, pledge to provide an alternative source of information unvarnished and objective photographs of the civil unrest and resurgent authoritarianism of Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoan.

The drug trafficking, the prostitution, the dog fights and the protests they all had the same motive from Erdoans Control.

ada Erdoan was released on bail last month and is now under curfew until his trial in June. If found guilty, he could go to jail for 23 years. I believe I was imprisoned because I am willing to show the iniquity I witness in Turkey every day, Erdoan tells me from Istanbul. But I was able to stay motivated because I believe I have done the right thing.

Erdoans photography has just gone on show at Circulations, a new Parisian photography festival held in a former funeral parlour. One can only hope visitors were prepared for what they saw because Erdoans saturated monochrome photographs of the nightlife of Gazi an impoverished, crime-ridden suburb to the north of Istanbul are not for the fainthearted. Erdoan captured the viciousness of illegal dog fights, the hedonism of underground sex parties, and the chaotic violence of armed street protests full of young men with masks and guns.

After dropping out of a sociology degree to pursue photography in 2013, Erdoan immersed himself in Gazi, known for its entrenched Kurdish community. There, he slowly gained the trust of its underground accessing and photographing subcultures that have found a way to rebel against the oppressive conservatism of contemporary Turkey. Often illegal, these are secretive, dangerous environments, yet Erdoans photographs his subjects with an intimate and expressive candour. The results are bold, uncompromising and thrilling. I often felt in danger, he says, but I learned how to navigate.

Erdoan quickly sensed a larger reason behind Gazis turmoil: a feeling that the Turkish government was attempting to wipe out its Kurdish population. That sense of threat drove people to act in the way they did. The drug trafficking, the prostitution, the dog fights and the protests at first glance, these activities seemed different, but they all had the same roots, the same motive. Turkey has given certain ideologies a platform and anyone with opposing thoughts is vilified. They have been pushed into the night. Thats what I photograph.

They trusted me, says the photographer. Photograph: ada Erdoan

There was, within this volatile environment, a newly liberated LGBT movement, as well as a desire among heterosexuals to experiment. Erdoan began to attend gatherings in Gazi in which couples, and sometimes groups of people, would have sex openly, in front of other partygoers. Whether it was men with women, men with men, or women with women, it did not especially interest Erdoan he saw them as indistinguishable, one and the same. What was important here was the exhibitionism: doing this not just in front of others, but in the viewfinder of his camera. His photographs became visual, performative acts of rebellion.

In modern Turkey, he says, anyone with any sort of marginalised sexual orientation is obliged to conceal their sexuality. I was allowed to witness acts at odds with the conservative image of Istanbul. They trusted me enough to open themselves up for my camera. Being able to photograph that was an amazing experience.

Akina Books published Erdoans debut collection, Control, in 2017. A representative, who did not wish to be named, said: Erdoan says the government is present even in your own bedroom. People might be repressed during the day but, when the lights go off, everything suddenly explodes. He found a way of expressing his fight against an invisible power by showing the darkness in which his subjects live.

While in Gazi, Erdoan had begun travelling back and forth to the Kurdish region of his birth. He embedded with militants aligned to the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), a separatist group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and classified as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish authorities.

Anyone with any sort of marginalised sexual orientation is obliged to conceal it. Photograph: ada Erdoan

From this vantage point, Erdoan documented elements of the conflict in the Kurdish territories of south-east Turkey. One of his first images was published by Getty in 2016 and used in newspapers around the world. It shows a Kurdish militant operating in Nusaybin, a city in eastern Turkey. His head wrapped in a kufiya, the young man prepares a rocket-propelled grenade as white doves fly above his head. After the image appeared in Getty, he was on the morning news, says the Akina spokesman. A TV presenter said ada must be a terrorist to take that picture. He knew they had their eyes on him.

But Erdoans photojournalism whilst in Kurdistan formed only part of the charges against him. Prosecutors say his photographs of Gazi, now on show in Paris, are evidence of membership of a terrorist organisation and spreading propaganda for a terrorist organisation.

However, Erdoans single allegiance is, he says, to photojournalism. My duty is to document the things that happen around me. As a journalist, I try to be as ethical as I can. I will never share the identities of my contacts. This, I believe, was a reason behind my arrest.

Far from being cowed by Erdoans experience, the SO Collective are continuing to grow, organising citizen journalists across the country. Taking photographs of people in Turkey has always been hard, a spokesman for the group told me. Everyone is suspicious. As a photographer, you can be an agent, someone from the state, a terrorist. It can make it nearly impossible to connect with people. The country is in a state of constant paranoia. But we are finding ways to exist, to be out there and chase the truth.

ada Erdoans Control is available from Akina Books. Circulations festival runs at the Centquatre-Paris until 6 May.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/03/cagdas-erdogan-photographer-turkey-paris-circulations-control

from Viral News HQ https://ift.tt/2qxBFWm via Viral News HQ

[seenmagazine]

Cagdas Erdogan⠀ From the series "CONTROL"⠀ Full series : Link in bio — view on Instagram http://bit.ly/2ZP7p9v