The Anadolu news agency reported that local officials had ordered that "Gunduz
Sinema" be closed down as it had a negative effect on children.
The cinema with its graphic posters for pornographic films clearly on display
for all passersby to see is located in the centre of Antakya and its film hall
is the actual meeting place used for the short-lived Republic of Hatay
(1938-1939).
Following World War One, Hatay came under French mandate but the head of the
newly-established Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, made it clear that
he wanted the area to be a part of Turkey proper.
After rioting between ethnic Turks and Arabs in the area in 1938, the "Republic
of Hatay" was formed and a parliament chosen in elections monitored by the
Turkish army where many Turks from the provinces of Adana and Gaziantep voted.
In 1939 the same parliament with its majority of ethnic Turk representatives
voted to join the Turkish Republic. With war in Europe seeming almost certain,
France readily agreed to accede power.
Arab-speaking people in the province considered the authorities' continued
acceptance of the porn cinema in an historic building to be an insult not just
on religious grounds but also because it involved "their" parliament, even if
it was run by ethnic Turks.
