Porn Scandal Shuts Down Turkish Media Department

Adentro Producciones theatre company members perform the play 'Titeres Porno' (Porn Puppets) at Matacandelas theater in Medellin, Colombia. Photo by EPA/BGNES

A porn film submitted as a final thesis by a student has provoked a huge controversy and Turkey and led to the temporary shut down of the Media Department at the Bilgi University in Istanbul.

As reported by Deutsche Welle, the thesis, submitted by 24-year-old cinematography student Deniz Ozgun, was approved by the student's advisers, who nevertheless told him to involve more intellectual depth.

At the actual defense, the thesis provoked academic criticism, as professors found that the work is not sufficiently motivated and rigorous, almost failing Ozgun.

The controversy nevertheless flared after Ozgun told about his project to a journalist friend, who acquainted the public with the fact.

Istanbul's Bilgi University is among the most liberal in Turkey, and has this far had no problems with this policy.

Ozgun's stated goal was to test how far tolerance and academic freedom goes in his country.

At any rate, this has provoked the ire not only of large parts of the Turkish public, but also of Bilgi University's central organs, who have this far fired three faculty members who have been academically involved in the project.

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