Famous thespian’s arts center damaged in alleged arson attack

An arts center in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district belonging to famous thespian Müjdat Gezen was damaged in a suspected arson attack on Sunday night, according to a statement from Gezen.

Gezen told Sözcü newspaper on Monday that the incident taking place at the Müjdat Gezen Arts Center was an arson attack and security camera footage shows a man with a beard entering the street with a plastic bin filled with oil at night.

The security camera footage which was made public on Monday morning confirms Gezen’s claims as a fire breaks out at the arts center after the man pours the oil from the plastic bin.

Fire brigade teams immediately extinguished the fire after they were informed by the residents in the neighborhood.

Police teams found garbage in the courtyard of the arts center and plastic gloves in the garbage bins in their initial examination in the area on Monday morning.

An investigation has been launched into the incident by the police.

Gezen is known as a government critic.

In the meantime, the staunchly pro-government Yeni Akit daily attracted widespread criticism on social media for the way it covered the fire at the Müjdat Gezen Arts Center.

“Great shock to ‘pimp’ Müjdat,” wrote Yeni Akit in the headline of  its news report. (turkishminute.com) Feb. 20, 2017

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