CYPRUS
Cypriot cartoonist sued and prevented from receiving awards (1989-96)
Hüseyin Chakmak won two prestigious awards at the Bordighera
International Salon of Humor in 1989, the Council of Europe Prize and the
famed Golden Palm. Many years have passed, however, without a single opportunity
for the cartoonist to receive them. In 1996, once again, an attempt to deliver
his awards has failed. On April 24, the Denktash regime stopped Turkish
Cypriot cartoonists trying to enter the free sector of Nicosia to attend
the opening ceremony of a joint Greek-Turkish cartoon exhibition.
The exhibition site was supposed to serve as the locale for presenting the
two awards to Chakmak, but he was denied access to the show. Cesare Perfetto,
founder of the well known Sanremo cartoon festival (previously held in Bordighera),
was also blocked from entry.
Turkish cartoonists barred from attending the exhibition and award
ceremony. Chakmak (balding and bearded) is fourth from the left.
Chakmak first was barred from receiving his awards in 1989, when the
then Eroglu government prevented a telegram from reaching him. At the time,
a political cartoon drawn by Chakmak and critical of the local regime's
oppression and servitude towards Eroglu, angered the prime minister and
prompted his officials to bring a lawsuit against the cartoonist. The case
had been dragged on for seven years, and the government, thinking that the
awards might influence the court in favor of the cartoonist, kept the news
from becoming public.
When Chakmak was denied entry to the 1996 show and award ceremony situated
in the International Press Center in the buffer zone between the two communities,
the organizers of the event together with Cesare Perfetto and a group of
Greek cartoonists, went to a control point to meet Chakmak and present him
the awards. Police, however, interfered, barring the attempt and telling
the cartoonists that the presentation was not allowed to take place. |
