Twenty-three guests have been arrested on grounds of allegedly propagating “terrorist” sentiments through songs associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) at a Kurdish wedding in Eskişehir in western Turkey, six weeks after the event. Although the wedding guests have been released on bail, they are now facing charges, creating a sense of unease among the city’s Kurdish community, as they organise weddings in accordance with their cultural traditions.
Perihan Koca, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP), previously known as the Green Left Party, took to Twitter on Sunday, to communicate with the affected community and providing insight into the incident. Koca told of the sudden arrest, made a thorough examination of the song lyrics, and explained the ensuing charges, that have instilled a sense of apprehension within the community, discouraging them from playing any music at celebrations. According to Koca, the Turkish police made the Kurdish detainees listen to the lyrics of the Kurdish songs in Turkish over and over again.
The arrests took place six weeks after the wedding event, with guests and others, including the musicians, being held at the anti-terror branch of the police for up to 9 hours.
Koca’s tweets condemned what she termed fascist practices, and stressed the right to celebrate or mourn through songs in one’s native language. She emphasised that if there is not sufficient resistance, such practices might become normalised within the state’s apparatus, adversely impacting cultural freedom and diversity in Turkey.
