Philip arditti · @Parditti
4th Jul 2013 from TwitLonger
The Rt. Hon. William Hague MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1 July 2012
Dear Foreign Secretary,
I am writing to you as the General Secretary of Equity, the trade union representing 36,500 UK based performers, actors and creative workers.
One of Equity’s Committees, the International Committee for Artists Freedom, campaigns on behalf of performers facing persecution and in emergency situations. You may already be aware of our work to support artists and organisations such as Belarus Free Theatre.
As you will be aware, a number of protests and demonstrations have taken place in Turkey in recent weeks following plans for the redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul. Our colleagues in the recently formed Turkish Actors Union have been involved in peaceful protests in both Gezi Park and Taksim Square and have faced a forceful and at times violent response from the Turkish authorities. A number of actors and performers have also been singled out and targeted by the authorities because of the high profile nature of their work in the growing Turkish entertainment industries.
Equity and the International Federation of Actors have condemned in the strongest terms the violent response of the Turkish authorities and we ask that you do all that you can in your role as Foreign Secretary to make representations to the Turkish Government to prevent any further persecution of performers taking part in peaceful demonstrations.
Yours sincerely
General Secretary