Mizgin Mujde Arslan and Ozay Sahin have been detained on Monday, February 13th

Dear Friends,
We regret to inform that our friends and colleagues Mizgin Mujde Arslan and Ozay Sahin have been detained on Monday, February 13th. Arslan is a director, author and scholar. Sahin is also a director, cinematographer and actor. The authorities allege that they collaborate with KCK, claimed to be the urban wing of the Kurdish rebel group the PKK. 
Turkey recently has witnessed a massive police operation against activists, advocates, academics, and publishers who are pro-Kurdish on the grounds of alleged links to the outlawed “Union of Communities in Kurdistan” (sometimes also referred to as the Kurdish Communities Union), known by its Kurdish-language acronym, the KCK.
Mizgin Mujde Arslan contributed to the cinema of Turkey not only with her films that have been selected to many national and international film festivals but also with her reviews and books. “The Lost Grave”, the film she has only just completed is the story of her father. It is a symbol of the last 30 years of mutual pain that our country has been suffering. This project is considered as an instrument for peace and it has been subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey.
Ozay Sahin’s feature documentary “Can Baz” which he made after working in the film industry as an actor, cinematographer and editor, has been selected to many international festivals. He was the director of photography for “The Lost Grave”. 
We have not forgotten the declaration our Minister of Internal Affairs, İdris Naim Sahin made on 26 December 2011. By saying “With poetry, articles, paintings they justify terrorism,” he clearly condemned artists and the oppository ways of thinking. This was a sign of the conflict we face today. 
The detention of Mizgin Mujde Arslan, Ozay Sahin and many other people definitely proves that there is an ongoing intervention to the Kurdish community behind these operations related to KCK. Until today thousands of people have been victimized by these operations and we have no doubt that artists are especially targeted alongside students, politicians, journalists, workers and scholars. 
We, the undersigned film industry members are very concerned by these operations. We deeply regret those detentions and arrestations of artists following the Minister of Internal Affair İdris Naim Sahin’s declaration. We demand the immediate release of our friends and colleagues Mizgin Mujde Arslan and Ozay Sahin.
Hüseyin Karabey,
Özcan Alper,
Semih Kaplanoğlu,
Yeşim Ustaoğlu,
Zeki Demirkubuz,
Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun,
Tayfun Pirselimoğlu,
Pelin Esmer,
Seyfi Teoman,
Altyazı (monthly film review) 
Ankara International Film Festival
docIstanbul Documentary Research Center 
Documentarist International Documentary Festival 
Filmmor International Women’s Film Festival 
Labour Film Festival
Sinesen (Filmmakers Union)
Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival 
Yeni Film Magazine
Ahmet Gürata, 
Ahmet Soner, 
Alper Turgut,
Alin Taşçıyan, 
Alişan Önlü,
Aliye Uçar, 
Arin İnan Arslan, 


Aslı Filiz, 
Aslı Güneş,
Aslı Özge, 
Ayça Çiftçi, 
Ayça Damgacı, 
Aylin Sayın, 
Ayşe Çetinbaş,
Aziz Akal, 
Aziz Çapkurt ,
Azize Tan, 
Baran Seyhan, 
Barış Pirhasan,
Belma Baş, 
Belmin Söylemez, 
Berke Baş, 
Berke Göl, 
Bingöl Elmas, 
Birsen Atakan,
Burcu Aykar, 


Burçin S. Yalçın, 


Burhan Gün, 


Can Candan, 


Cem Öztüfekçi, 


Cemre Ceren Asarlı, 
Ceylan Özçelik,
Cüneyt Cebenoyan,
Çağdaş Günerbüyük, 
Çayan Demirel, 


Çiçek Kahraman, 


Çiğdem Kesik, 


Çiğdem Mater, 


Didem Şahin,


Elif Bezal,


Elif Ergezen, 


Elif Turhan, 


Enis Köstepen, 


Emel Çelebi, 


Erol Mintaş, 


Esin Küçüktepepınar, 


Esra Demirkıran


Evrim Kaya, 
Faruk Hacıhafızoğlu, 


Farhad Eivazi,


Faysal Soysal, 


Ferit Karahan, 


Feryal Saygılıgil, 


Fırat Yücel,


Filiz Gazi,
Fırat Erdoğmuş, 
Gizem Soysaldı, 
Gökçe İnce, 
Görkem Yeltan,
Gözde Onaran,
Gülengül Altıntaş,
Güliz Sağlam, 


Göktuğ Özgül, 
Hakan Aytekin, 
Hasan Özgen, 
Hande Çayır, 
Haşmet Topaloğlu,
Hatice Kamer, 
Hikmet Yaşar Yenigün,
Hüseyin Kuzu,
İnan Temelkuran,
İlksen Başarır,
İmre Azem, 
İsmet Arasan,
Janet Barış,
Kazım Öz,
Kemal Yılmaz, 
Kemal Öner,
Kemal Alptekin,
Kibar Dağlayan Yiğit, 
Koray Çalışkan, 
Koray Kesik,
Leyla Neyzi, 
Lusin Dink, 
Nihan Katipoğlu, 
Nil Kural,
Nil Perçinler, 
Medet Dilek, 


Mehmet Eryılmaz, 


Mehtap Doğan,


Melek Özman,


Melek Ulagay


Melih Saraçoğlu, 


Melis Behlil, 


Melis Birder, 


Meryem Yavuz, 


Mert Fırat,


Metin Avdaç, 


Murat Düzgünoğlu, 


Mustafa Temiztaş, 


Mustafa Emin Büyükçoşkun,


Nadir Öperli, 


Nagehan Uskan, 


Necati Sönmez,


Nergis Öztürk,


Nesra Gürbüz, 


Nezahat Gündoğan, 


Nihat Kentel,


Mustafa Ünlü, 
Müge Yamanyılmaz, 
Okan Arpaç, 


Onur Saylak, 


Orhan Eskiköy, 


Orhan Güneşdoğmuş,


Oylum Bülbül,


Ömer Tuncer,


Önder Çakar, 


Övgü Gökçe, 
Özge Özdüzen, 


Özgür Doğan,


Özge Akkoyunlu, 
Özgür Seyben, 
Özkan Küçük, 
Özlem Yıldız,
Pelin Turgut, 
Reyan Tuvi, 
Rakibe Karataş, 
Rodi Yüzbaşı, 
Sabite Kaya, 
Savaş Güvezne,
Selin Gürel, 
Selen Uçer,
Sema Bulutsuz, 
Semih Dindar, 
Semir Aslanyürek, 
Senem Aytaç, 
Senem Erdine, 
Senem Tüzen, 
Seray Genç, 
Serdar Güven, 
Serdar Kökçeoğlu, 
Seren Yüce, 
Serkan Acar, 
Serkan Turhan, 
Serra Ciliv, 
Sevilay Demirci,
Sevin Okyay, 


Seyhan Kaya,
Sezgin Türk,
Sibel Tekin,
Soner Alper, 
Somnur Vardar,
Şenay Aydemir, 


Tahsin İşbilen,
Tarık Tufan, 
Tolga Esmer, 
Tolga Karaçelik
Tunca Arslan,
Tül Akbal Süalp,
Tülin Özen,
Uğraş Salman, 
Ümit Ünal
Veysel İpek,
Yamaç Okur,
Yasin Ali Türkeri, 
Yeşim Tabak, 


Yücel Tunca,


Zeynel Doğan,
Zeynep Dadak, 


Zeynep Güzel,
Zeynep Merve Uygun,
Zeynep Ünal