Artists are not spared from the AKP's crackdown on civil society

As Turkey’s government works to shrink the space for dissent against it, artists in the country have come under increased pressure to not antagonise authorities with their work. <br /><br /><br />President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) has shown time and again that it is unwilling to countenance criticism from across civil society. <br /><br /><br />Artists in Turkey are among the voices currently being suffocated by authorities. According to Freemuse, a nonprofit devoted to protecting artistic expression, released their annual report that detailed the troubles facing Turkey’s artists and the country holds the inglorious honor of being one of Europe’s violators of this right.<br /><br /><br />“Turkey is part of a wider trend of countries where there is an overall shrinking of alternative expressions that go against those propagated by the authorities,” said Paige Collings, Freemuse’s Global Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator, in a recent podcast interview with Ahval News.