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NEWS
28 December 2003

Kurds struggle to find voice in Turkey
In December 2003, one of Turkey’s best-known singers and film stars, Ibrahim Tatlises, sang a song in Kurdish, his native language, live on television. Then, a few days after his performance, members of Turkey’s rightist Ulkucu movement, the youth wing of former government partner the National Action Party, staged a large protest in Istanbul against the singer.
Story from Aljazeera

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Related reading and more on minorities

Kurds struggle to find voice in Turkey
As death threats and angry slogans greet a recent performance in Kurdish by one of Turkey’s most popular singers, many human rights advocates in Turkey feel Ankara still has a long way to go to meet European Union standards on minorities
28 December 2003
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
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
Turkey: Censorship Past and Present
A historical approach to the nature of censorship. Article.
01 October 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
Turkey: New media law heavily criticised
The Turkish parliament has approved a controversial bill that critics charge will further curtail press freedoms and strengthen media monopolies
16 May 2002
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: 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
Turkey: Anti-censorship initiative launched
A new initiative against censorship was born when artists from Turkey launched the SSS - Sanatta Sansüre Son - which means "End to Censorship on Arts"
30 November 2006
Sivan Perwer
Video interview with the famous Kurdish folk musician Sivan Perwer who has had numerous songs banned in Turkey. About the political role of the artist and the "Power of Music"
30 October 2006
Turkey: Government accused of "cultural genocide"
In a 46-pages article, a British author describes the situation in the Kurdish region of Turkey as a “cultural genocide” and states that a new anti-terror law is misused against freedom of expression
27 October 2006
Turkey: Supporters of Kurdish tv station criminalised
56 Kurdish mayors who stood up for Danish-based Kurdish Roj TV have gone on trial in Turkey, charged with aiding and abetting the outlawed terrorist organisation Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
27 September 2006
Turkey: New sound of Kurdish music after ban was lifted
Aynur Dogan, once banned because of her Kurdish ethnicity, is perhaps the most recognizable of many Kurdish singers creating a new sound in Turkey
03 April 2006
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
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
Turkish reforms music to Kurds ears
The Kurdish hills are alive with the sound of music now that key changes in Turkey have enabled Kurdish musicians to come out of the closet
22 October 2002
Local TV censored
A 200-year-old Kurdish song caused the closure last week of a television station operating in southeastern Turkey, home to the country's Kurdish population. Gun-TV was taken off air on Friday for one month after broadcasting the song
29 March 2002
Appeal from Intl. PEN: Kurdish performers banned
The international arts community is concerned by a disturbing number of cases involving the banning of songs and plays performed in the Kurdish language in Turkey
01 February 2001
Turkey: Interview with exiled musician Fuat Talay
Baglama-player and singer Fuat Talay speaks about how the Turkish authorities kept him in a police station's cellar for 23 days, and later on convicted him to 12 years in prison
04 August 2008
Turkey: Arrest order for director of childrens' choir
Three members of Diyarbakir Yenisehir Council Childrens' Choir were acquitted, but the Turkish court issued an arrest order for the director of the choir, Duygu Bayar
23 June 2008
Turkey: Banned rapper did not back down
In 2000, a song by Turkish rapper Sultana was banned, and she disappeared from the lime light. After an eight-year hiatus she is now back on the music stage
18 June 2008
Turkey: Three children stand trial for singing a march in Kurdish
Three members of a Kurdish children's choir face prison charges by Turkish prosecutors for simply singing an old Kurdish song
09 June 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: Singer Bülent Ersoy taken to court
The famous transsexual singer Bülent Ersoy has been charged for "alienating the people from military service"
19 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: Radio station to court for playing a song
Gün Radio is taken to court for a song entitled 'Mesopotamia', which was played by the station on 9 November 2006
15 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