President's daughter visits Banksy's exhibition

The other evening, at 7:30 p.m., on Kemanke? Street in Istanbul's Karaköy district, there was a huge crowd in front of the "Global Karaköy" building.

The opening of an exhibition by the world's most famous street artist, Banksy, was in progress. The first comers were me, as a huge Banksy fan, and daily Hürriyet writer Kanat Atkaya.  

As we proceeded toward the exit, somebody whispered in my ear, "Right at this moment, Sümeyye Erdo?an [the president's daughter] is entering the exhibition."

The first thing that drew my attention was that there was no security ring around her. Since we are so used to security pushing people around, this situation seemed quite surprising to me. 

I was also surprised to see Sümeyye Erdo?an at the exhibition of a protest street artist. Moreover, this artist is one who drew several anti-Erdo?an designs last summer on London's streets. 

She had informed beforehand that she would participate in the opening. However, after the bombing incident in Sultanahmet, the executives of the exhibition had thought, "She probably won't come."

I think it was a very correct and good decision. The aim of terror is to stop life in Istanbul. Even in Paris, night life has been affected. 

As a matter of fact, if society wants to fight terror, these artistic events, openings and celebrations should be held instead of postponed. This is the best challenge to terror. For this reason I congratulate Sümeyye Erdo?an with all my heart. 

Military regime petition 

It was on May 15, 1984, when the military regime still had its grip on Turkey, when 1,383 people led by writer Aziz Nesin submitted a petition to President Kenan Evren. The same day a copy of the petition, the names and the...