Levent Üzümcü

Turkish directors Kazım Öz and Semir Aslanyürek's film "Elif Ana" (Mother Elif) has become the winner of the special jury prize and the special organizing committee award at the 32nd International Golden Knight Film Festival in Grozny, Russia.

Turkish poet and writer Naz?m Hikmet will be commemorated on the 114th anniversary of his birth with a large event in Essen, Germany, on Jan. 31. 

After the Antalya Municipality refused to provide a stage to the Antalya Theater Festival this year, its Muratpa?a District Municipality has offered to host the festival, which is allegedly under fire from the government over its hosting of actors critical of the Turkish government.

The firing of theater player Levent Üzümcü from Istanbul?s City Theater was in connection with his stance during the Gezi Park resistance and his speech at the Socialist International. 

In his speech in 2013, Üzümcü defined Turkey as ?a country forced to take sides constantly at the street, at school, at work, in front of the computer and during sports events.? 

Dissident Turkish actor Levent Üzümcü, who has been sent to the High Disciplinary Court of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, was dismissed from the Istanbul City Theater over statements critical of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

Some 400 academics and artists have expressed in a signed statement their support to daily Cumhuriyet and its editor-in-chief, Can Dündar, as both were subjected to an investigation after the daily picked up a story of trucks belonging to Turkey's top intelligence body which were stopped while allegedly attempting to carry weapons to Syria.

Dissident Turkish actor Levent Üzümcü has been sent to the High Disciplinary Court of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and is facing dismissal from the Istanbul City Theater over statements critical of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

Commenting on the news from his Twitter account, Üzümcü defined the motion as against the law.

An investigation has been opened into the artists who appeared in a short film commemorating the one-year anniversary of the death of Berkin Elvan, a young Gezi protest victim.

The public prosecutor of the Istanbul Press Offences Bureau summoned the well-known figures, from musicians to actors, who performed on the short film over an alleged "abetment."

A criminal complaint has been filed against 27 prominent figures, including main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu, journalists and celebrities, for comments made on social media about the police operation to end the March 31 hostage crisis at Istanbul's Ça?layan Courthouse, which ended with the death of a prosecutor and his two captors. 

Famous faces from Turkey appear in a new anti-fur campaign film produced by the Take Care of Me (BGKO) animal rights organization and the Production Team of Turkey (PToT).