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FERHAT TUNÇ The Kurdish-Turkish singer Ferhat Tunç was born in 1964 in Turkey's most eastern region, Dersim. His songs in Kurdish language have been censored in Turkey, and he has been taken to court numerous times, which is documented in the more than 65 news stories and interviews listed below: CD: Listen to the banned Compiled by the artist Deeyah and Freemuse, this CD compilation album is published on 3 March 2010 by Norway's most successful music label, Grappa Records 15 March 2010 Facts about the CD: 'Listen to the banned' Compiled by the artist Deeyah and Freemuse, this CD compilation album is published on 3 March 2010 by Norway's most successful music label, Grappa Records 03 March 2010 Press release: New Freemuse CD: Listen to the banned The new Freemuse CD 'Listen to the banned' is a unique collection of 14 contemporary songs by artists who have been censored 24 February 2010 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç sang at large rally for Alevi rights Ferhat Tunç was one of the artists who performed in Istanbul on 8 November 2009 in front of 200,000 people protesting for the rights of a religious minority 09 November 2009 Turkey: Pop star both condemned and praised for political statement A statement in favour of a new plan on how the Turkish government should approach the Kurdish issue turned fans of the popular Turkish pop diva Sezen Aksu up against her 14 September 2009 Ferhat Tunç Video interview with singer and musician Ferhat Tunç from Turkey who speaks about his personal experiences with music censorship 19 August 2009 Video-interview med den tyrkisk-kurdiske sanger Ferhat Tunç Sanger og musiker Ferhat Tunç fortæller om sine personlige erfaringer med musikcensur og den retsforfølgelse, som han udsættes for i Tyrkiet 10 August 2009 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç in his seventh court case Police brutality against the Kurdish-Turkish singer Ferhat Tunç lead to a court case - not against the police, but against the singer 14 July 2009 USA: Censored musicians spoke at Duke University In its human rights series, Duke University in North Carolina, USA, presented two censored musicians and highlighted freedom of musical expression 25 March 2009 How Music Freedom Day 2009 was observed in Stockholm Two seminars and concert in Stockholm on 3 March 2009 became a beautiful, yet serious and powerful manifestation for musicians' human rights 04 March 2009 Human Rights for Musicians – Impressions & Descriptions: Ferhat Tunç Testimonial by Ferhat Tunc in the anniversary publication 'Human Rights for Musicians - Ten Years With Freemuse' 30 January 2009 Human Rights for Musicians – Ferhat Tunç acquitted • Jens-Peter Bonde Article by Jens-Peter Bonde who is president of EU Democrats and was Danish member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 2008 30 January 2009 USA / UK: Norwegian singer Deeyah wins Freedom Award Deeyah, an exiled Norwegian singer and activist, was awarded with ArtVenture's 'Freedom to Create Prize' at a ceremony in London on 26 November 2008 27 November 2008 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç's trial postponed again On 28 May 2008 Ferhat Tunç stood trial over an article he wrote. But once again, the trial was postponed 29 May 2008 Turkey / Germany: Panel debate about Turkish censorship On 4 April 2008, protest singer Ferhat Tunç performed with his Kurdish songs and discussed music censorship in Berlin, Germany 08 April 2008 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç's next trial postponed A Turkish court decided to postpone the next trial of the Turkish-Kurdish singer with five months, until May 2008 17 December 2007 Turkey: Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç threatened in the virtual world Singer Ferhat Tunç has never felt as unsafe in Turkey as he does now. Death threats against him are published on the internet, and he faces yet another court case 01 November 2007 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç acquitted The Turkish-Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunc could leave Izmir High Criminal Court as a free man on 4 October 2007. The Freemuse delegation succeeded it's mission 04 October 2007 Turkey: EU Commission to observe Tunç Trial Senior Political Advisor Ms Selma Kiliçer from the EU Commission office in Ankara will observe the trial against Ferhat Tunç - and thus join the Freemuse delegation 03 October 2007 Ferhat Tunç campaign 2007 International campaign in support of musician on trial for remarks on Kurdish issue. Freemuse request the Turkish State to drop its case against singer Ferhat Tunç 02 October 2007 Freemuse Press Statement: Drop the cases against Ferhat Tunç Freemuse Press Statement requesting immediate dismissal of all cases against Mr. Ferhat Tunç 01 October 2007 Ferhat Tunç aleyhindeki davalar düşürülsün (Ferhat Tunç Freemuse press statement in Turkish language) 01 October 2007 Turkey: Delegation in support of Ferhat Tunç EU-politician and famous Danish musician join Freemuse delegation, travelling to attend the court case in Turkey against Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç on 4 October 2007 27 September 2007 Freemuse News Alert: EU-MP joins Freemuse at Tunc court case in Izmir This Freemuse News Alert was sent via e-mail to 312 journalists and media houses world-wide on Thursday 27 September 2007 at 16:11 GMT 27 September 2007 Turkey: A personal letter from musician Ferhat Tunç A personal letter from Kurdish-Turkish musician Ferhat Tunç who was appointed a 'Freemuse ambassador' in September 2007, about his relationship with the organisation 25 September 2007 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç continues his struggle Despite death threats and continuous court cases, Turkish singer and writer Ferhat Tunç continues to critisise the Turkish court system and the government 25 June 2007 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç informed about death threat with two months delay "It is us who have killed Hırant Dink. Now it’s time to kill Ferhat Tunç," read an e-mail delivered to Turkish Police on 24 January 2007 - right after the assassination of Hırant Dink 10 April 2007 Turkey: One more judicial inquiry against singer Ferhat Tunç Another “judicial inquiry” has been opened against Ferhat Tunç, because of what he said at a concert organised by a political party on 22 July 2006 in Alanya 19 January 2007 Ferhat Tunç: speech - November 2006 Video of speech by Kurdish-Turkish musician and composer Ferhat Tunç, held in Istanbul in November 2006 at the 3rd Freemuse World Conference 15 January 2007 Stephan Smith-Said Video interview with the American musician and political activist Stephan Smith-Said (and others) about the importance of music and of fighting music censorship 06 December 2006 Speakers of the 3rd Freemuse World Conference Speakers at 3rd Freemuse World Conference in Istanbul - 25-26 November 2006 05 December 2006 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç’s case sent to higher court At a criminal court hearing on 15 September 2006, musician Ferhat Tunç who might face up to three years in prison, had his case sent to a higher court. 17 September 2006 Ferhat Tunc meets Danish MP’s Kurdish singer met leading parliamentarians and high level representatives from Amnesty, Pen and Danish Arts organizations in Copenhagen. 01 February 2006 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç receives death threats "I regret to say that something I did for humanitarian purposes to save someone’s life was turned into a lynching campaign against me" 09 January 2006 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç appeared in court The trial of artist Ferhat Tunç for an article he wrote in Özgür Gündem newspaper is adjourned to 31 May 2006 30 December 2005 Turkey: 'Censorship - the Turkish way' These original documents reveal the methods of official Turkish censorship 06 December 2005 Ferhat Tunç campaign 2005 International campaign: Freemuse and musicians world-wide request the Turkish State to drop its case against singer Ferhat Tunç 06 December 2005 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç case postponed Ferhat Tunç's hearing on the 2nd of December is postponed to 9th of March 2005, for the purpose of gathering additional documents 08 December 2004 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç again to appear before court Ferhat Tunç will be tried due to article 159 of the (former Turkish Penal Code) because of using the phrase “deep judiciary” in an article he wrote. The first hearing will be held on December 2nd, 2004. Proposed sentence is imprisonment of 1 to 3 years 20 October 2004 Meet the banned! Freemuse conference abstract (WOMEX 2004) Read abstract from the Freemuse conference session at WOMEX 2004, featuring Ferhat Tunc 19 October 2004 Meet the banned! Freemuse conference abstract (WOMEX 2004) Read abstract from the Freemuse conference session at WOMEX 2004, featuring Ferhat Tunc 19 October 2004 WOMEX 2004 This year Freemuse presented two conference sessions: "Meet the banned! Music censorship in Turkey" featured Turkish musician Ferhat Tunç, while "9/11 – The world's all out of tune" presented a new book on freedom of musical expression after 9/11 19 October 2004 Turkey: Testimony - the trials and arrests of Ferhat Tunç "1986: Arrested for political reasons. One week of interrogations, degradations and torture in the notorious prison camp DAL." Read the personal testimony of Turkish singer and human rights activist Ferhat Tunç 19 October 2004 Freedom of Expression Awards 2004 The Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards 2004 took place on 22 March. The Music Award went to Daniel Barenboim & Edward Said. The other nominees were Gorki Luis Águila Carrasco (Cuba), Junoon (Pakistan), and Ferhat Tunc (Turkey) 24 March 2004 Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç arrested Singer and human rights activist Ferhat Tunç, jailed for alleged separatist incitement, said that he still faces charges even though he was earlier released from jail. 17 July 2003