There was yet another statue smashing in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15th October. This time it was a bust that of Haldun Taner's, a very important dramatist and short story writer. The news had been tweeted by Haldun Taner's wife Demet Taner, expressing her frustration. No suspect has been identified yet.
Nazım Hikmet Cultural Centre (NHKM) released a statement protesting the vandalism and demanding a reconstruction of the bust:
"...No matter who had done the act, we know for sure the mentality behind it. Remembering that the statue of the 'Musician' in Izmir had been attacked several times and the attacker had been released, we can easily determine the sources of motivation of the vandal or vandals..."
The statue named the Musician, a work of art by the Spanish artist Amancio González Andrés depicting a mythological figure, had been smashed two times by a member of AKP in May and June 2016, in a way that was most reminiscent of ISIS attacks on ancient statues in Iraq and Syria. Right before the first attack, the statue had been targeted by AKP İzmir provincial vice chairman for being "obscene" with its depiction of a naked boy figure.
A REACTIONARY HATRED FOR THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF TURKEY
Over the years since AKP came into power in 2002, there have been increasing instances of attacks on statues, a case demonstrating a vulgarised stance towards cultural legacies in Turkey. Behind each case of statue smashing or deconstruction, there is a discourse of immorality labelling statues as "obscene" or "indecent". The demolition of the "Statue of Humanity" in Kars, Turkey, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called it "freakish" in 2011 while he was the prime minister, is especially a notorious case of the reactionary hatred for the cultural heritage of Turkey.
