Sex and the police
December 8, 2007
Turkish Daily News, NAZLAN ERTAN
As young journalists eager to get our news onto the front page, we used to joke that certain words would guarantee headlines: Sex, guns, diplomatic/political/police scandal. Our formula was simple – the more “s”es in a headline, the higher its visibility on the front page: “A secret telegram” might be front page, but “Sex Scandal” was better. “Sex scandal in the police force” was certainly headline material.
Thus, given this formula that we young reporters devised back in the 1990s, it came as no surprise when I saw the headline in the Turkish language daily Vatan: “Homosexual police officer's ICQ sex quest ends in prison.”
The story, duly picked up by all news Web sites and a few gay/lesbian Web sites, is an internet surfer's nightmare: In the northern town of Zonguldak, a police officer, invited five young men he met on internet to his house, who ran away after stealing his gun, leaving him tied up.
The police officer reported the next day that he had lost his gun in the toilet of the local mosque – a lie that was quickly discovered since the mosque had been closed down the night before.
Upon closer questioning, the police officer told the details of his rather touching story: He had discovered that he liked men and tried fervently to suppress it. Despite efforts to “cure” himself through the help of a psychiatrist, he discovered that he could not “fight” it. When his marriage fell apart, he was transferred from the Aegean province of Uşak to Zonguldak, to start a new life.
Alas, his loneliness increased in the new city and he has turned to Internet chatting-dating-mating as many singles are doing more and more. There, he has met a young man, whom he invited to wine and dine, along with a few friends of the latter. The group then went back to the police officer's house, engaged in “some” petting, but, at one point, a disagreement erupted. The police officer threatened the young men with his gun to consummate intercourse, but they managed to tie him down and ran away, taking his gun with them.
The police officer accused the five young people of theft, while the young men are accusing the police of officer of forcing sex upon them. All are presently at Baycuma Prison, according to Vatan.
Homosexuality in Turkey is a complex subject. Zeki Muren, Turkey's most beloved singer, is homosexual. The closest contender to his throne, Bülent Ersoy, is a transsexual. One of the best contemporary writers, Murathan Mungan, is gay. One wonders whether any Divan Poetry, (Palace Poetry of the Ottoman Empire) would exist at all if it had not been for homosexuality. The “black doe-eyed beauties” who bring alcohol for the poets cited in all the poems are not women, but young men in the palace.
Despite all this, outside certain circles, the rights of homosexuals are hardly respected. According to KAOS GL, the largest and most-organized Gay-Lesbian association in Turkey, Turkey's drive to improve human rights in line with EU standards is also forcing officials slowly to overcome prejudices against homosexuals.
Activists say most of them risk their jobs if they disclose their sexual identity and there are no laws to protect their rights. The Turkish army is the only NATO force to still consider homosexuality a psychological disorder, according to Eubusiness.
But consider the progress, given that after the military coup in 1980, gay artists were banned from appearing on Turkish state television or on stage in public places.
Original Link: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=90773
Turkish Daily News, NAZLAN ERTAN
As young journalists eager to get our news onto the front page, we used to joke that certain words would guarantee headlines: Sex, guns, diplomatic/political/police scandal. Our formula was simple – the more “s”es in a headline, the higher its visibility on the front page: “A secret telegram” might be front page, but “Sex Scandal” was better. “Sex scandal in the police force” was certainly headline material.
Thus, given this formula that we young reporters devised back in the 1990s, it came as no surprise when I saw the headline in the Turkish language daily Vatan: “Homosexual police officer's ICQ sex quest ends in prison.”
The story, duly picked up by all news Web sites and a few gay/lesbian Web sites, is an internet surfer's nightmare: In the northern town of Zonguldak, a police officer, invited five young men he met on internet to his house, who ran away after stealing his gun, leaving him tied up.
The police officer reported the next day that he had lost his gun in the toilet of the local mosque – a lie that was quickly discovered since the mosque had been closed down the night before.
Upon closer questioning, the police officer told the details of his rather touching story: He had discovered that he liked men and tried fervently to suppress it. Despite efforts to “cure” himself through the help of a psychiatrist, he discovered that he could not “fight” it. When his marriage fell apart, he was transferred from the Aegean province of Uşak to Zonguldak, to start a new life.
Alas, his loneliness increased in the new city and he has turned to Internet chatting-dating-mating as many singles are doing more and more. There, he has met a young man, whom he invited to wine and dine, along with a few friends of the latter. The group then went back to the police officer's house, engaged in “some” petting, but, at one point, a disagreement erupted. The police officer threatened the young men with his gun to consummate intercourse, but they managed to tie him down and ran away, taking his gun with them.
The police officer accused the five young people of theft, while the young men are accusing the police of officer of forcing sex upon them. All are presently at Baycuma Prison, according to Vatan.
Homosexuality in Turkey is a complex subject. Zeki Muren, Turkey's most beloved singer, is homosexual. The closest contender to his throne, Bülent Ersoy, is a transsexual. One of the best contemporary writers, Murathan Mungan, is gay. One wonders whether any Divan Poetry, (Palace Poetry of the Ottoman Empire) would exist at all if it had not been for homosexuality. The “black doe-eyed beauties” who bring alcohol for the poets cited in all the poems are not women, but young men in the palace.
Despite all this, outside certain circles, the rights of homosexuals are hardly respected. According to KAOS GL, the largest and most-organized Gay-Lesbian association in Turkey, Turkey's drive to improve human rights in line with EU standards is also forcing officials slowly to overcome prejudices against homosexuals.
Activists say most of them risk their jobs if they disclose their sexual identity and there are no laws to protect their rights. The Turkish army is the only NATO force to still consider homosexuality a psychological disorder, according to Eubusiness.
But consider the progress, given that after the military coup in 1980, gay artists were banned from appearing on Turkish state television or on stage in public places.
Original Link: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=90773
