Danish Dari German Spanish French Turkish Arabic
Click here to go to start page Click here to go to start page
Search Sort content by country/region Sort content by artist Sort content by subject
News stories world-wide
News 2011
News 2010
News 2009
News 2008
News 2007
News 2006
News 2005
News 2004
News 2003
News 2002
News 2001
About music censorship
About Freemuse
Publications
Study room
Activities
Links
Press room

NEWS
30 November 2006

Turkey:
Anti-censorship initiative launched

A new initiative against censorship was born during the 3rd Freemuse World Conference in Istanbul on 26 November 2006: Artists from Turkey launched the SSS initiative - Sanatta Sansüre Son - which means "End to Censorship on Arts".

The launch took place right after a session which had presented strong testimonies by Turkish musicians and composers who have faced censorship, torture and jail in Turkey. The initiative to create SSS came from young Turkish musicians, and also artists from other fields have joined, as well as presidents of three influential professional organisations.



The launch of Sanatta Sansüre Son.     Photo by Mik Aidt

Several musicians taking part in the conference similarly have already initiated various collaborations.



During the session on music censorship in Turkey, Selda Bagcan spoke about her ongoing problems with the Turkish authorities.   Photo by Anna Schori




Click to read about the conference



Video documentation

Watch the video interview with Turkish composer and human rights activist Şanar Yurdatapan who gives his impression of the session on Turkey at the conference:
Video interview with Şanar Yurdatapan


More information

All details about the third Freemuse World Conference which was held in Istanbul on 25-26 November 2006 can be found here:
Conference site

Go to top
Related reading

Turkey: Killed for requesting a Kurdish song
A weekend in December 2011 ended tragically when a man was brutally murdered after he requested that musicians in a bar sing a folksong in Zaza Kurdish, his native language
03 January 2012
Turkey: Ferhat Tunç in court once again
Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç is the target of seven investigations and two trials due to speeches he held during his campaign for the general elections in June 2011
16 December 2011
Fuat Talay
Turkish musician Fuat Talay explains (in Danish language) about his personal experiences with music censorship in Turkey which led to his imprisonment and exile
21 November 2011
Turkey: Campaign for Kurdish singer and activist Gazin (Raziye Kızıl)
A petition addressed to the Turkish Prime Minister to free Gazin who was sentenced to one year in prison for having sung two Kurdish songs
26 October 2011
Turkey: Acquitted from 12 years' prison charge for political music album
Turkish rock musician Yaşar Kurt's dissident song 'Korku', released in the late 1990s, resulted in his trial for treason where he was acquitted from a 12 years' prison sentence
25 October 2011
Turkey: 10 months in prison for chanting slogans at a concert
A 10 months sentence to three young men who had been chanting slogans at a Grup Yorum concert in Dersim in 2007 was confirmed by Supreme Court’s 9th Office
18 October 2011
Turkey: One year in prison for singing two Kurdish folk songs
Raziye Kızıl (Gazin) was sentenced to one year in prison for having sung two Kurdish songs and is also faced with an extra five-year prison threat
18 October 2011
Turkey: Convicted for having lyrics by Grup Yorum on computer
On 22 September 2011 union official Berivan Doğan was convicted to ten months imprisonment for having the lyrics of Grup Yorum's songs on her computer
05 October 2011
Turkey: Prisoners punished with visitor-ban for singing a folk song
Berna Yılmaz and Ferhat Tüzer, two imprisoned students, have reportedly received a six months ban on having visitors because they were singing a folk song
12 September 2011
Turkey: Kurdish singer’s concert cut short by protesters
On 15 July 2011 at the İstanbul Jazz Festival the concert of the Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan was interrupted by shouting people in the audience, forcing her to leave the stage
25 July 2011
Turkey: Trial against the Kurdish singer Yılmaz Dünen
The Kurdish singer Farquin (Yılmaz Dünen) is facing a prison sentence of between seven and 20 years, charged with ‘spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation’
22 July 2011
Turkey: Prisoners punished for singing political slogans
The Ankara Penal Authority Discipline Board penalized 63 prisoners in Sincan Prison for chanting slogans and singing on 1 May 2011
29 June 2011
Turkey: Court acquitted singers charged with insulting the president
The 16 members of the Beyoğlu Troupe were sued by Prime Minister Erdoğan on the grounds of the lyrics of a song they performed. On 8 June 2011 they were acquitted
09 June 2011
Singer and politician Ferhat Tunç receives violence threats
A gendarmerie commander reportedly ordered village guards to “break Ferhat Tunç’s legs” as Ferhat Tunç was starting a tour in villages in Cemisgezek/Dersim area
11 May 2011
Turkey: Three members of Grup Yorum taken into custody
Three members of the music band Grup Yorum were taken into custody in a security operation launched by the police in Istanbul
11 May 2011
Turkey: New court case against Ferhat Tunç is ‘copy-pasted’
The Turkish courts appear to be ‘copy-pasting’ cases against the popular Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç, and the agenda is allegedly to intimidate and silence him
30 March 2011
Music Freedom Day: Meanwhile in Turkey, musicians are persecuted
Singer Ferhat Tunç wrote this article as a personal comment to the Music Freedom Day initiative, describing the current situation for more than a dozen musicians in his country
03 March 2011
Turkey: Song lyrics prompt legal action against university students
A trial against 16 members of the Beyoglu Troupe of Actors started on 21 January 2011. The university students are charged with "insult" in connection with the lyrics of a song
02 February 2011
Turkey: Singer Pınar Sağ ten months in prison for praising revolutionary leader
On 27 January 2011, Turkish folk music singer Pınar Sağ was sentenced to ten months in prison for praising leftist revolutionary Ibrahim Kaypakkaya at a festival in Dersim
01 February 2011
Turkey: Ferhat Tunç receives 25 days prison sentence
The Kurdish-Turkish singer Ferhat Tunç was sentenced to 25 days in prison for a speech he made during a concert in 2006
27 January 2011
Germany: Kurdish concerts banned by authorities in Berlin
In Berlin, a concert with the two Kurdish artists Hozan Aydın and Şerîbana Kurdî was prohibited in court because it was found to be celebrating the foundation of PKK
05 January 2011
Turkey: Supreme Court re-opens case against Ferhat Tunç
Going to court is becoming a repeatative nightmare for the Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç
04 January 2011
Turkey: Ferhat Tunç on trial again
Singer Ferhat Tunç was first acquitted, but then Chamber 9 of the Appeal Court rejected the decision, and Tunç will now be tried again.
31 December 2010
Turkey: Ferhat Tunc acquitted and immediately charged again
One day after the court in Diyabarkir acquitted Ferhat Tunç the Istanbul police turned up at his home today to inform the singer that he will be charged in two new cases
05 November 2010
Turkey: Ferhat Tunç acquitted
Freemuse Award winner, Ferhat Tunç was acquitted this morning from the Diyarbarkir Criminal Court in Turkey
04 November 2010
Turkey: Musician faces four years imprisonment
Turkish folk music artist Pınar Sağ faces imprisonment of a total of four years for her statements at a festival
20 September 2010
Turkey: Court case against two teenagers for singing Kurdish song
Malazgirt Criminal Court opened a court case against 18-year-old Özgür Başak and 17-year-old R.D. who are charged for singing along the Kurdish song 'Oremar'
06 September 2010
Turkey: Date of next hearing set in Ferhat Tunç's case
The date for the next hearing in the case against musician and Freemuse Award winner Ferhat Tunç has been set to 30 September 2010
04 August 2010
Turkey: Court sentences band to 10 months imprisonment for Kurdish song
The Malatya Criminal Court has sentenced the band members of Grup Munzur to 10 months imprisonment for singing a Kurdish song at a concert held in June 2008
27 July 2010
Turkey: Singer sentenced to 10 months in prison
Singer Cevdet Bağca to serve a 10 months prison term for a statement given to the crowd before his concert in the Turkish town Siirt in September 2009
22 July 2010