Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan responds to ban on her concerts

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Kurdish-Alevi singer Aynur Doğan shared a message from her Twitter account upon the latest ban of her concert by Derince Municipality.

The Derince District Municipality in the northwestern province of Kocaeli banned Kurdish and Alevi singer Aynur Doğan's concert, which was due to be held on May 20.

The municipality run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said it had concluded after a review that the concert would not be "appropriate," without specifying the reason.

Doğan wrote that she will not give up on her way despite the bans.

"Poets are those who prove the truth, and we continue on this path. We will grow together by sharing wherever we can and wherever your love is."
We are not punching bags to build your "muscles", but opportunities to strengthen your heart and conscience," said Doğan in her Tweet.

Aşıklar hakikatı ispatlayanlardır, biz de bu yolda ilerlemeye devam ediyoruz. Gücümüzün yettiği, sevginizin olduğu her yerde paylaşarak birlikte büyüyeceğiz.
Bizler “kaslarınızı” geliştireceğiniz kum torbası değil ancak yüreğinizi ve vicdanlarınızı güçlendirmenin fırsatlarıyız.

— Aynur Doğan (@aynurdogan) May 17, 2022

What happened?

Kocaeli's Derince District Municipality banned Doğan's concert on the weekend after she was targeted by pro-government groups on social media.

The municipality run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) only said that the concert would not be "appropriate," but didn't specify the reason.

Doğan was last year granted the WOMEX 21 Artist Award by the Worldwide Music Expo.

CLICK: WOMEX 21 Artist Award granted to Aynur Doğan

(FD/TB)