Oscar Wilde, Oscars confusion in Turkish parliament commission debate

Turkish lawmakers had the chance to debate Oscar Wilde during a constitutional commission meeting on May 2, after several lawmakers did not know who the Irish writer was and had confused the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, with him, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The discussion between the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies started when a HDP lawmaker wanted to quote Wilde as an example, but the AKP lawmakers didn’t know who Wilde was.

“Please nobody take it personally, but I want to quote Oscar Wilde,” said HDP deputy Prof. Mithat Sancar, who was received by confusion from AKP deputies.

“Who is he?” asked AKP deputy Zeyid Aslan, to which Sancar replied by saying that Aslan should look up Wilde himself.

“I can’t give you a lecture; we don’t have time but if someone needs it than we can rent a room and do a private session in the parliament,” Sancar said.

Sancar’s choice to quote Wilde was criticized by several AKP lawmakers, with AKP deputy Halis Dalkılıç saying that Sancar should give an example from “this civilization.”

“Do you have any examples regarding this culture, this civilization?” asked Dalkılıç, while AKP MP Ahmet Sami Ceylan asked Sancar to state a quote from Turkish poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek.

After much debate, Sancar recited the quote anyway, relating it to the abandoned peace process over the Kurdish issue.

“I can oppose vulgar power, but I can’t stand vulgar reasoning. There are unjust things in vulgar reasoning. Vulgar reasoning aims below the belt,” Sancar stated, quoting Wilde.

However, the debate left others still confused, as AKP deputy Adnan Günnarlater later asked Sancar to talk about the award ceremony known as the Oscars.

“It’s Oscar Wilde. He is not an award, he is a guy called ‘Oscar Wilde,’” HDP deputy Burcu Çelik Özkan explained to the AKP lawmaker.