Prominent Turkish talent manager arrested in connection with Gezi Park protests

Ayşe Barım, one of Turkey’s most prominent talent managers, has been arrested in connection with 2013’s Gezi Park protests. The indictment also accuses Barım of holding a monopoly over the talent management sector.

Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor launched the investigation into Barım last week. The prominent manager runs a talent management company called ID Danışmanlık Limited.

Gezi Park protests were a wave of demonstrations against the increasingly authoritarian rule of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that lasted throughout the summer of 2013 and were centered in Istanbul’s central Gezi Park and the adjacent Taksim Square. The accusations leveled against Barım allege that the talent manager ‘directed her clients to engage in the Gezi Park events’.

Following the release of the accusations, Barım was detained and sent to a nearby courthouse. The indictment alleges Barım engaged in actiıns “aimed at overthrowing the Republic of Turkey and preventing it from carrying out its duties.”

Necati Özkan, a political commentator allegedly associated with Ayşe Barım, denied these allegations in a social media post and accused government officials of launching a slander campaign and attempting to redistribute revenue and influence within the entertainment sector.

The now arrested talent manager, had previously received criticism for her outsized influence in the entertainment industry, where she was accused of running a monopoly and exerting strict control over the actors and actresses she manages.

Gezi Park 

In the 12 years since the Gezi Park events, numerous prominent figures in Turkey have been targeted with attempts to overthrow the government through their participation in the protests.

Businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, one of the most prominent Gezi defendants, was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 in connection with the events. The Council of Europe has demanded his release on numerous occasions, and Kavala is classified by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. 

Written for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick

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