An artist who portrayed Turkey's Premier as a dog has fled the country

July 2, 2009 - 12:23 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - An artist who was cleared of mocking Turkey's prime minister by portraying him as a dog has fled the country after hearing his acquittal has been overturned.



Michael Dickinson, 59, returned home to County Durham after hearing a late-night TV report last week saying the acquittal had been quashed and a new trial was pending.



"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it," he said. "I caught a plane out as soon as I could, leaving most of my possessions behind, including my books, furnishings and computer."



"I was sad to leave after 23 years in Turkey, but I don't fancy another taste of Turkish hospitality in incarceration."



Dickinson is expecting the trial to go ahead in his absence, and will be represented by his lawyer.



In September the artist was cleared by a court in Istanbul after a judge decided the controversial collage of Tayyip Erdogan was art and not insulting, The Times reported.



The piece, called Good Boy, showed Erdogan as a dog with a stars and stripe leash and nuclear missile tail.
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