Producers and directors of 22 films consider the formal registration certificate required by the Cinema General Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism for films in order to be screened at festivals as "a form of oppression and censorship".

The decision has been announced during a press conference on 13 April 2015. Following the cancellation of the screenings on 12 April, the majority of films in the National Competition, National Documentary Competition, International Competition, Cinema in Human Rights Competition, Out of Competition, and New Turkish Cinema sections decided not to be screened at the festival. During the press meeting, the festival announced that the film screenings would continue, but the National and International Golden Tulip Competitions, National Documentary Competition and the Closing Ceremony were cancelled.

A call for solidarity has been made for the whole sector, festivals and professional organisations to change the Regulation Pertaining to the Basis and Procedures of Evaluation and Categorisation of Film Products, which requires films produced in Turkey to have registration certificates in order to be screened at festivals, in order to extend the exemption implemented for foreign films to locally produced films as well.