Dear Surrealist Friends

We have a few words to say,
to a certain fixed perception of ‘Turkey’ adopted from fifty years ago, to those who are using “minority” representation -“politically added value” on the rise in the West- to declare an intellectual competence on such issue, to an inconsistent discourse which emphasize ‘ethnic’ identity in a personal complaint while using Surrealism as a pretext, to an execution of unknown origin which is being carried out by means of jerrybuilt information in Surrealist Community whose only ancestor is imagination and finally to a collusion of inquiry conducted to rationalize the above mentioned attempt.We do not state that we do not have other discussions with S.E.T (Surrealist Action Turkey) but in any case we would like to state what we observe here, S.E.T. discovers new ways of expression in Turkey in guidance of Surrealism and acts as the spokesperson of the prophetical methods of Surrealism using its own means without seeking any profit at all. Rafet Arslan, the maintainer and a veteran of this group, has connections with neither Stalinism nor Fascism. The methods he is employing is not related with any basic politic motif other than a ‘revolt’ against the hypnotic sleep of daily life.

Surrealism has no central authority, alleging that it has one, will create the very cults condemned by Surrealism itself and will commit the biggest disrespect to its entire heritage.

This saddening attempt by Ody Saban, to return to this land that she chose to leave years ago, her desire to utter words above the words of people who live and embosom their dreams here, her insistence to exert a totalitarian view arising from her own unconscious in order to be indisputably accepted as a kind of ‘mother’, and her attempt to sabotage the dreams of this land, are all unacceptable for us.

Surrealism has always been and always will be capable of defending itself in any era and anywhere. Surrealism does not need to be defended and protected by anybody. It is nobody’s property. We wish nothing but the universal calls to be used only, for the debates of present problems that Surrealist esprit is exposed to, to design new grounds of expression that would serve the purposes of the Surrealist experience, and to ensure the everlasting idiosyncratic friendship of a universal community which will accompany Surrealist discoveries leading to “revolution”.

We greet you all,
15.04.2011 Istanbul

Independent Surrealists of Turkey
Hande Koçak & Tan Tolga Demirci