Grup Yorum Says There is No Reasonable Justification to Not Allow Its Concert

"They fear that it would be a concert where millions will chant the ‘Independent Turkey’ slogan and voice their demand for justice," says the band.

İstanbul

Grup Yorum Says There is No Reasonable Justification to Not Allow Its Concert

A Grup Yorum concert in İzmir, 2015.

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

After İstanbul Governor's Office rejected Grup Yorum's applications to give a concert, the band released a statement today (June 4), saying that it will "realize their comrades' dream to give a concert, for which they paid a price."

Two members of the group, Helin Bölek and İbrahim Gökçek, died on April 3 and May 7, respectively, during death fasts they conducted against the concert ban on the group.

İbrahim Gökçek died on May 7, two days after ending his death fast. (Drawing: Gianluca Costantini)

Grup Yorum previously announced that it would perform the "9th Independent Turkey Concert" at İstanbul's Yenikapı event venue on August 9 and that it would dedicate the concert to Bölek and Gökçek.

The Governor's Office then said in a statement on June 2 that "The claims that the Governor's Office accepted the concert application do not reflect the truth. The Governor's Office did not permit the concert."

"There is no reasonable justification"

Grup Yorum said that the Governor's Office released the statement on its website without notifying them about its response to the application.

"In the notification given, the reason is that 'It has not been deemed suitable by the Governor's Office.' According to what, to whom, it was not deemed suitable? There is no reasonable justification for not allowing the concert," the band stated.

"Their main fear is that it would be a concert where millions will chant the 'Independent Turkey' slogan and voice their demand for justice. This is the only reason that the Governor's Office gave a decision to reject the application after the release of a poster."

The band would apply to the Regional Administrative Court regarding the decision, the statement noted.

What happened?

The İdil Cultural Center in Okmeydanı, İstanbul has been raided by the police for over 10 times over the last two years. During the raids, instruments of Grup Yorum members were either broken or gone missing, their music books were also damaged. According to the statement made by the group, a total of 30 people were arrested in these raids.

The death fasting Grup Yorum members had the following demands:

* End the police raids against İdil Cultural Center, which is constantly raided, attempted to be terrorized and where the group is conducting its activities

* Remove the Grup Yorum members from the wanted lists of the Ministry

* Remove the ban on the concerts of Grup Yorum, all concerts of which have been banned for almost three years.

* Drop the lawsuits filed against Grup Yorum members

* Release all arrested Grup Yorum members

Having turned her hunger strike into a death fast, Grup Yorum member Helin Bölek lost her life on the 288th day of her death fast on April 3, 2020.

After the band applied to the Governor's Office of İstanbul to hold a concert, İbrahim Gökçek ended his death fast on the 323rd day and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance on May 5, 2020. Gökçek lost his life at the hospital two days later on May 7.

Gökçek started his hunger strike in prison and also turned it into a death fast. He was detained in a raid against İdil Cultural Center in İstanbul on February 26, 2019. Taken into custody as part of an investigation, Gökçek was arrested by the İstanbul 1st Penal Judgeship of Peace on March 1, 2019. Gökçek was released on February 24, 2020.

(AS/VK)