As you might remember a wave of violent state repression continues in Turkey. On January 18, mass raids and arrests against left, progressive associations, lawyers‘ offices and the cultural center of Grup Yorum resulted in 55 arrests. The arrested persons were beaten, kept in the police station for 2 nights without water and were subjected to physical and psychological torture. Members of Grup Yorum also suffered from police violence. The bourgeois media published police propaganda, saying that the Cultural center and the other legal bureaus were protected by 11 doors and that there were found cosmic rooms, which were used for illegal communication.
Only 1 month after, in the early morning hours of 19.02.2013, the offices of trade unions were raided in 28 Turkish cities.
The attacks were directed against members and board members of KESK (Confederation of Workers in the Public Sector) and other trade unions of KESK, as Egitim-Sen, SES and BES. 184 persons were taken into police custody, 58 were arrested. The Turkish state wants to legitimate all these raids, torture, and arrests by speaking of a „big operation against DHKP-C“, an outlawed marxist-leninist movement in Turkey.
Following article about a concert of Grup Yorum shows, that neither this repression, lies and terror of the AKP is able to destroy the democratic opposition and the struggle for justice.
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The fairy tale of a cosmic room with 11 doors, in reality more than 50 artists went on stage with Grup Yorum!
In days in which repression and police raids follow one another without interruption, dozens of artists have come together to demand democracy and justice and to oppose fascism. Turkey’s intellectuals and artists organized a concert in the Bostanci centre (note: in a suburb of Istanbul) for Grup Yorum and for revolutionary lawyers.
In the raids the objects the police trampled under their dirty boots, the guitars they broke, the baglamas (note: a kind of stringed musical instrument) from which they took fingerprint samples and the picture of Idil they feared so much that they scratched the eyes out were hung in front of the stage with 11 doors and turned into a cosmic stage. (Ayce Idil Erkmen, a revolutionary artist and actress who died in Turkey’s 1996 prison hunger strike/Death Fast – during this police raid, the police vandalised her picture.) For hours the traffic had been blocked off in Bostanci and its environs as people poured into the centre where the concert was held.
The 11 door, cosmic stage headlined concert started when over 5,000 people were in the hall. The concert started at 15.30 due to the pressure of the crowd and it began with presenters Pelin Batu and Serdar Orcin explaining the fairy tale of the 11 doors and the cosmic room. (Note: a sarcastic reference to statements by the police about “11 doors” and a “cosmic stage” being allegedly present when they raided the Idil Culture Centre.) Then one of the lawyers from the People’s Law Bureau, Evrim Deniz Karatana came to the stage and made a speech about the current period. Karatana ended the speech by saying that the struggle of the revolutionary lawyers would not be stopped by imprisonment and their duties would be taken over by their friends.
After Karatana Kardes Turkuler (name means: „Fraternal Folk Songs“) came on and performed a medley of folk songs. Kardes Turkuler said that they supported Grup Yorum today and would do so tomorrow. After Kardes Turkuler, Grup Yorum took the stage with one song, “That wall is your wall/we don’t give a hoot, it is a buzz in our ears” and greeted the concert and its guests. After Grup Yorum, intellectuals again took the stage. Menderes Samancilar and Esber Yagmurdereli came on stage, each making a speech. Esber Yagmurdereli stated that nobody who refers to democracy, socialism and freedom can stray from the path of struggle to achieve them. Menderes Samancilar reminded the audience that Grup Yorum’s recorded album had been confiscated by the police and not returned and as an act of solidarity he would sing songs composed by Grup Yorum. Esber Yagmurdereli and Menderes Samancilar then invited the group Redd to the stage. Group Redd, Dogan Duru and Gunes Duru said revolutionary art could not be prevented and sang their song entitled Don Quixote. After Redd, Nejat Yavasogullari was invited onto the cosmic stage. Nejat Yavasogullari sang Grup Yorum’s song Buyu (“Magic”). Other artists joined in the song.
In this way on Grup Yorum’s cosmic stage, the first Grup Yorum song was sing without Grup Yorum. As the number of artists performing grew, with every advancing minute those in the hall became ever more curious about who would be next. The concert presenters Serdar Orcin and Pelin Batu were skilled at managing the flow of performers onto the stage and were active in showing solidarity with Grup Yorum. Later on Sadik Gurbuz took the stage and cited a quote from Nazim Hikmet – “They will not print my poems/one day they will be printed”. He greeted all who are imprisoned as part of the revolutionary struggle. After Sadik Gurbuz Ismail Hakki Demircioglu was called to the stage. After him came Pinar Aydinlar, Hakan Yesilyurt and Burhan Berken who greeted revolutionary lawyers, revolutionary artists and all revolutionary activists who are in prison, and sang the Grup Yorum song “Come and set fire to the dawn”. Then Bilgesu Erenus came on stage, greeted everyone and also brought greetings from Bakirkoy women’s closed prison. A letter from imprisoned revolutionary artist Gamze Keskek was read out. In the letter Gamze Keskek described how in the police car her hands were handcuffed behind her back, but she still used her feet to beat out the rhythm of Ciao Bella as a means of resistance. Bilgesu Erenus asked everyone in the hall to sing Ciao Bella, beating the rhythm with their feet as though their hands were handcuffed behind their backs, and the whole hall did so. And at a concert with no lack of songs Ibrahim Karaca and Mehmet Ozer also took the stage and sang. Moreover Ibrahim Karaca, Gokhan Birben and Efkan Sesen also brought greetings.
As the minutes ticked on, Grup Yorum’s cosmic stage continued to produce surprises and it was the turn of Mor ve Otesi (“Ultra and Violet”). Mor ve Otesi said that years later these dark days would be talked about and the only way to leave these dark days behind would be to act together. Mor ve Otesi then invited “our friends” Grup Marsis to the stage. Marsis stated that it had grown up with Grup Yorum and had first heard songs in the Laz language from them, and sang Avlaskani Cunali (a Grup Yorum song in Laz). Messages that had come in were read out. Messages read out by Pelin Batu first of all were greetings from revolutionary prisoner artists Gamze Keskek, Seckin Aydogan, Ayfer Ruzgar, Bahar Kurt and Veysel Sahin to the concert, the intellectual artist said the last word must not be left to fascism. Of the messages read out, one was from revolutionary lawyers held in Kandira No. 1 prison who had passed on the letter to Kandira Bar Association, and it sent revolutionary enthusiasm and greetings to the concert. Another of the messages to the concert came from Sine-Sen (trade union of film workers). It stated that it greeted the struggle of revolutionary musicians, actors and film workers. After the messages were read out Zuhal Olcay came out and sang the Grup Yorum song “Without giving in”.
After Zuhal Olcay, Isil Ozgenturk and Bulent Emrah Parlak were invited to the stage. Isil Ozgenturk greeted the crowd with a song she had composed, while Bulent Emrah Parlak reminded them of the six women prisoners burned alive in 2000 and said they thought they could destroy us with fire but have only increased our numbers. Later Adile Yadirgi, Mehmet Gumus and Niyazi Koyuncu came out onto the cosmic stage, singing Grup Yorum’s song “Struggling to come through”. Ali Baran greeted those who resist and struggle and sang Kurdish melodies. After Ali Baran Yasemin Goksu and Erdal Bayrakoglu were called to the stage. Erdal Bayrakoglu and Yasemin Goksu sang “Even the sun is forbidden”, “My rose, my rose” and “Guleycan”.
Later Rojin came to the stage and sang Herne Pes (a Kurdish patriotic song). Rojin invited Ilyas Salman to the stage. Ilyas Salman greeted the crowd and read poems of Ahmet Arif, stating that he had been told „Are you mad? Why do you get mixed up in everything?“, saying that “it is better to be one blockhead in motion than 7.5 billion who are totally stationary”. After Ilyas Salman, Ferhat Tunc was called. Ferhat Tunc said he greeted the struggle and all those who wage it, and sang a Dersim lament in honour of Berfo Ana who died recently. After the lament he sang Prisoners of Freedom along with the entire audience. In a concert in which Kurdish, Turkish and Laz songs had already been sung, a Black Sea group Karmate came on to the stage and sang another Laz song and said that in founding their own group they had drawn inspiration from Grup Yorum’s existence. Later Yeni Turku came on and sang the song “Storm”, and greeted the participants, saying „our road passesfrom steppes to the seas, via the streets”.
In a programme in which musicians, singers, actors and theatre workers continued to come on stage, the theatre actors Ragip Yavuz and Dolunay Soysert came on, referring to Idil Theatre Workshop actors Gamze Keskek and Veysel Sahin. Ragip Yavuz, member of the Theatre Platform, brought greetings from 19 theatres, said he had worked with Gamze and Veysel in organising a number of theatres and said the blind repression of fascism would not prevent the struggle and their struggle would continue and he would continue to support his friends under every condition. Moreover he recalled that Grup Yorum had said,”We have yet to compose the best song, we have yet to give the best concert” and “Our word is that we have a long journey still to make on our road”.
Dolunay Soysert read out poems by Ipek Tuzcu and greeted the participants. After Dolunay Soysert and Ragip Yavuz, Grup Abdal came to the stage, saying they were happy to come on to show solidarity and sang the folk song “I broke my golden ring”. Grup Abdal then invited Huseyin Turan on. Huseyin Turan sang the folk song “Korkmirem Balam” and said, “We do not fear their oppression”. Huseyin Turan then invited Tolga Sag to folk songs about those who feed on the poor/how can our hearts stand it? After Tolga Sag, Yasar Kurt came on and sang a Grup Yorum folk song about army deserters. Finally Grup Yorum came on to the stage again, playing a medley of halays (traditional dance with related music in Turkey). Grup Yorum made a speech saying they had never given in to fascism, nor would they, and that as oppression increased so would the struggle grow and develop. Towards the end the TAYAD Families came on and gave all the performers gifts of carnations. At the end Grup Yorum sang Cemo and Ciao Bella with the other performers.
Tarik Akan, Firat Tanis, Ataol Behramoglu, Gizem Soysaldi, Reis Celik and Ezel Akay could not take part because of health problems or changes of programme.
More than five thousand people took part, engraving in people’s memories the strength of unity against the tyranny of fascism, the consciousness that revolutionary art can never be prevented and that the tyranny of the system can be brought down through unity.
Banners with the slogans “Revolutionary art cannot be silenced” and ”revolutionary lawyers are our honour” were hung in the hall while the slogans “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism”, “Repression cannot intimidate us” and “Grup Yorum is the people and cannot be silenced” were continually cale out during the concert.
