Germany refuses visas for three actors of Amed City Theater

The start of the European tour of the Amed City Theater (Şanoya Bajêr a Amedê) announced for Saturday cannot take place as planned. The reason is the visa refusal for three members of the company by the German embassy in Turkey. Actor Özkan Şeker and his two colleagues, Dicle Güneş Yavuz and Şilan Rabia Alagöz, have been refused a visa. As a formal justification, the visa section in Ankara cited a “lack of evidence of the roots” of the three artists in their homeland. In other words, according  the German embassy, they did not present any concrete and credible return prospects.

Decision “completely unfounded”

For actress Berfin Emektar from the Amed City Theater, the visa refusal by the German authorities is completely unfounded and, from the point of view of artists, difficult to accept. “The fact that the European tour cannot take place as planned due to the refusal of entry is at the same time a blow to art and culture.” Herself and three other members of the seven-person theater company, however, have been granted entry permits in Germany.

Kurdish adaptation of the Cervantes classic

The Amed City Theater wants to go on tour in Europe with the play “Don Kîxot”. It is the Kurdish adaptation of “Don Quixote” by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes

Tour in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland

The actors of the Amed City Theater and director Ferhad Feqi are looking for their own Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in their adaptation, as the second title of the play – “Who are we?” – suggests. The piece premiered last June. As part of the European tour, performances were planned in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Essen, Frankfurt, Anvers, Amsterdam, Zurich, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Basel, Geneva and Lausanne, among others. The company, which is already being restricted in its work by the Turkish authorities, is currently trying to obtain visas for all members. The performances planned for January should be made up for in April.

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