|
Turkey's Kurdish artist arrested after
being invited by Erdogan
12.2.2010 |
|
|
|
February
12, 2010
ISTANBUL, —
Kurdish artists Rojda was taken into custody by
reason of having spread "propaganda for an illegal
organization" by performing a Kurdish song at a
festival in Diyarbakir. Rojda is one of 160 artists
invited by the Prime Minister to discuss the
"Kurdish initiative".
Kurdish artist Rojda, who is going to attend a
meeting on the "Kurdish initiative" by invitation of
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested in
Istanbul on Tuesday night (9 February).
Journalist Uygar Gültekin informed bianet that Rojda
was taken to the Istanbul Courthouse on the grounds
of alleged "propaganda for an illegal organization".
The allegations are based on the Kurdish song "Heval
Kamuran" the artist performed at a festival in
Diyarbakir in the predominantly Kurdish
south-eastern part of Turkey (Northern Kurdistan)
last year. Rojda's statement was taken at the
Courthouse on Thursday (11 February). The Diyarbakir
Public Prosecution has filed a lawsuit against the
artist. |
Kurdish singer Rojda |
Rojda, one of the
artists of the Mesopotamia Culture Centre, was
arrested at her home in the Gaziosmanpaşa
Karayolları quarter of Istanbul on the evening of 9
February. She was kept at the Istanbul Police
Directorate and later on taken to the Istanbul 13th
High Criminal Court. There she gave her statement in
the presence of her lawyer Hüseyin Çalışçı.
In an announcement Rojda made after she had given
her statement, the artist said: "There are trials
pending in Diyarbakir related to the songs I
performed. We appear to be potentially guilty unless
some laws are going to be amended. I will give my
statements at all the trials. This time I was
arrested because I did not receive a notification
from court. I was not interrogated at the police
station. I just made a short statement to the
court".
Prime Minister Erdoğan is going to meet about 160
artists to discuss the Kurdish initiative. The talks
will start on 20 February and are divided into three
sessions. Invitations were issued inter alia to
musicians Sezen Aksu,www.ekurd.netAjda
Pekkan, İbrahim Tatlıses, Emel Sayın and Orhan
Gencebay, director Yılmaz Erdoğan, author and Nobel
Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk and author Yaşar Kemal.
On 28 January another Kurdish singer Ibrahim
Rojhilat was arrested for making alleged propaganda
for the Turkey Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Since 1984 PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
(Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around 45,000
lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish community
openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
The PKK is considered a
'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK
continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite
court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
Last August, the government announced plans to expand
Kurdish freedoms in a bid to erode popular support
for the PKK and end the insurgency.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, bianet org | AFP | Agencies
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
