Turkey intervened at EU level against the concert project Aghet the Dresden Symphony Orchestra for the Armenian genocide 100 years ago. The Turkish ambassador to the EU requires that the European Union sets the financial support for the international production, said director Markus Rindt. He spoke of an “attack on freedom of expression”. The project, which in November 2015 had premiered in Berlin and guesting in Istanbul to, but he did not look at risk. “I do not think that our agency to buckle.”
The Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture at the European Commission stand behind Aghet, reported the Dresdner Latest News . But it has so far, according to Rindt yielded when it also removed information on its website. “We think that’s not good.” It should be a warning sign that the Turkish government does not back shrink to freedom of expression in art and culture in Europe even before interference. They have even threatened the EU with termination of the accession negotiations.
“They wanted that no one finds out and that the terms genocide and genocide are repaid, “Rindt said. For the musicians of renowned European orchestras was such a “defusing” unacceptable. “You have to name them what it was,” said the orchestra director. “We can not beat about the bush, that it comes to genocide.”
concerns about the choice of words
The European Commission in Brussels confirmed that the text has been removed from the site. There had been concerns about the choice of words. Therefore, the text has been temporarily removed to speak with the marketers of new formulations. “A new project will be released in the coming days,” assured a spokesman. The European Commission supported the project with 200,000 euros. “Its implementation has never been questioned,” she explained.
In 1915, the first arrests of Armenian intellectuals in Istanbul were followed further deportations and destruction. It is estimated that 800,000 to 1.5 million members of the Christian minority in the Ottoman Empire were killed. Turkey as his successor sees an unjustified accusation about genocide. “We want to set a dialogue,” Rindt said.
In a series with Böhmermann
The idea for Aghet comes from the German-Turkish guitarist Marc Sinan. After two performances in Dresden end of April the concert, for the symphonic reinforced with colleagues from Turkey, Armenia and members of the No Borders Orchestra from the former Yugoslavia should be guesting in Istanbul, Belgrade and Yerevan.
see the intervention, just how important the guest performance in Istanbul was for the common Vergangenheitsbewältigung, Rindt said. The Saxon MEP Cornelia Ernst (left) remarked, art and freedom of expression as the highest goods and pillars of the EU are not bargaining chips. “Anyone who wants to join the EU, these values must act accordingly.” The EU Commission can not apply again questioned her decision.
the resistance of the Bosporus is nothing new for the Symphony. Also in 2014 was “the designation of genocide is enough to call on the Turkish government’s plan” recalled Rindt. Their Culture Ministry and the Azerbaijani Embassy then withdrew their support for a project back shortly before the premiere. Now the Sinfoniker be seen in a series with the satirist Jan Böhmermann. It is, according to them Rindt not provocation but reconciliation. “Too bad they do not understand.”
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