Zafer Sari

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - The sculpture 'Rain of Love' in the southern holiday destination Kemer will be put back in its place after a local court concluded the mayor's decision to remove the piece for being obscene was against law. The mayor says he will appeal the case

Art defeated politics in the southern province of Antalya when a court verdict concluded that a sculpture of a naked man and woman in the rain would return to its original location, Anatolia news agency reported Monday. A district mayor had removed the offending installation in 2009 because he deemed it obscene.

The mayor of Kemer district, Mustafa Gül, from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, removed the sculpture from its place at an intersection in the district last year, arguing that it ruins young girls' morality and disturbs families. The sculpture, titled "Rain of Love," was made by sculptor Zafer Sari for the district and placed at the intersection in 2007 by the former mayor, who was from the Republican People's Party, or CHP. One of Gül's first actions was to remove the sculpture after local elections in March 2009. After reactions from local residents, Gül placed the sculpture in a park in the district but removed the people figures from the sculpture and kept the base, which reads "Kemer" and is made of metal.

Sculptor Sari opened two separate cases against the municipality for canceling the former mayor's decisions - one for removing the sculpture and a second for placing it at a different location without the permission of the artist. The court joined the two cases and concluded to cancel the municipality's actions and place the sculpture at its former location, lawyers of Sari disclosed Thursday.

"While we were waiting for the support of politicians to spread the art of sculpting to people, we encountered barriers from them," said Sari, highlighting that he was very happy with the decision, the Anatolia news agency reported. "We should respect our bodies. Why be shamed? As especially in tourism spots, in five star hotels, beaches, everywhere open to the public, one is free to walk in bikinis, we should discuss the nakedness of a sculpture made of iron," he said.

Sari said he and his lawyers are considering opening a case for reparations from the mayor. Meanwhile, Mayor Gül said he is going to appeal the case. "We will continue our legal struggle. It is against my morality that two naked sculptures unworthy of standing on a street named 'Atatürk' are placed there," he said.

Meral Eser, one of Sari's lawyers said it is the mayor's right to appeal the case, but it would not mean this right enables him to not obey the court verdict.

"I have been a lawyer for 40 years, and my friend, who is the head of [Bursa] Bar Association, has been one for 20 years. Neither he nor I could understand how the administration used its authority to handle this. That is why we opened a suit to nullify its acts," said Eser.

Zeki Kahraman, another lawyer for Sari who is head of the Bursa Bar Association, said the mayor displayed misconduct in office and caused the municipality to lose money by giving illegal orders to remove a public piece of property - made with the money from the municipality. "We will take action against this. He also played with the honor of the artist by saying things against the sculpture. The sculpture was removed by having a rope tied around the neck of the figures. This is one of the greatest insults against a piece by an artist," he said.