Grup Yorum

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Grup Yorum
General information
Genre (s) Folk-rock , folk , protest music
founding 1985
Website grupyorum.net
former members
Metin Kahraman , Kemal Sahir Gürel , Hilmi Yarayıcı , İlkay Akkaya, Efkan Şeşen , İnan Altın

Grup Yorum ( Yorum means 'interpretation' or 'comment' in Turkish) is a Turkish band. The group is best known for their political lyrics. It was inspired by political music bands such as Inti Illimani from Chile or Ruhi Su from Turkey and was founded in 1985 in a student environment after the military coup in Istanbul in 1980 . The music group belongs to the socialist - revolutionary spectrum and was subjected to multiple state persecution. Members were arrested, arrested and tried. The band's albums were banned. Grup Yorum is assigned to the DHKP-C by the Turkish and German authorities . Independent observers such as the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel also believe that the band has "ideologically approached the DHKP-C" in the course of its history, but emphasize that the group has "far more fans" than the DHKP-C sympathizers .

Band history

Grup Yorum has released over 20 albums since 1987 and has over 40 members so far. In addition to the albums, concerts were also banned. The last ban on a Grup Yorum album occurred in 2001. The Feda album was banned and confiscated three weeks after its release. As in the album Boran Fırtınası from 1998, Grup Yorum mainly dealt with the prison situation and prisoner resistance in Turkey , the death fast , which cost the lives of well over a hundred prisoners. The Turkish security authorities and courts consider Grup Yorum to be part of the DHKP-C , which promotes armed struggle. To date, over 400 proceedings have been opened against Grup Yorum in which dozens of members were arrested, had to sit in prison for several years and were tortured. Musically, the band was initially in the tradition of Özgün Müzik , i.e. political Turkish folk music. Over time, she also experimented with classical music , rock, and hip-hop . “It's the music, the melody and the rhythm that touch people. But music tastes are changing. And with that we develop musically. Only the lyrics don't change, ”said band member Caner Bozkurt once in an interview.

In 2010 the group, accompanied by the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra and numerous guest musicians, celebrated their 25th anniversary in front of 50,000 guests in what was then the Inönü Stadium . In September 2012, Grup Yorum singer Selma Altın and violinist Dilan Balcı were arrested and detained while protesting in front of the Forensic Medicine Institute. Altın's eardrum was destroyed and Balcı's arm was broken. Attorney Taylan Tanay said the two were handcuffed and forced to lie down while in detention while police officers kicked them. Tanay said that Selma Altın and Dilan Balcı were deliberately treated so that their careers as musicians were over.

After the death of Berkin Elvan , who died during the Gezi Park protests in 2014, the group wrote a song for him.

Grup Yorum held a "people's concert" in Istanbul for five years each year with free admission; in 2014 there were 1.1 million visitors. In 2015 the AKP government banned the concert because of the risk of an impending "riot". Nevertheless, the group called for it and, as a counter-concept, developed decentralized concerts by parts of the band at various locations in the city. The police followed the fans' buses, there were street battles and 54 arrests. Band members Selma Altın and Sultan Gökcek were also arrested.

At the end of October 2015, Grup Yorum was refused an entry visa to Germany on the grounds that eleven of their musicians were registered in the Schengen information system . The band wanted to give a concert on November 14th in Oberhausen under the title Hearts and Voices against Racism .

After the attempted coup in 2016 , there was a complete ban on concerts, which the Turkish authorities pronounced the band. In October 2016, the Turkish police stormed and devastated the İdil Kültür Merkezi in Istanbul after the band played there. The police also left broken instruments of the band. The band then released a video "Smashed Instruments" in which they play a song on the broken instruments. In November 2016, members Ali Araci, Inan Altin, Selma Altın, Sultan Gökcek, Firat Kil, Dilan Poyraz, Helin Bölek and Abdullah Özgün were arrested. After four months, all arrested members were released.

In two years alone, the Idil cultural center was searched ten times and other members of the band were arrested. Members Sultan Gökçek and Betül Varan were released on January 22, 2019, while members Seher Adıgüzel, Ferhat Kıl, Helin Bölek, Dilan Ekin, Bahar Kurt, Özgür Gültekin, Meral Hır and Duygu Yasinoğlu remained in custody. Ibrahim Gökçek was arrested again by the police in February 2019 and charged with membership of the DHKP-C. On May 16, 2019, members Bahar Kurt, Barış Yüksel, Ibrahim Gökçek, Helin Bölek and Ali Aracı, some of whom had been detained for more than two years, announced a hunger strike. Bahar Kurt and Helin Bölek were released on November 20, 2019. When the cultural center was stormed again, the police arrested members Sultan Gökçek, Bergün Varan and Tuğçe Tayyar. In the same year, the Turkish Ministry of the Interior listed Inan Altın, Selma Altın, Ali Aracı, Ibrahim Gökçek, Emel Yeşilırmak and İhsan Cibelik as "terrorists" on a gray list. Selma Altın and Inan Altın applied for asylum in France.

On February 24, 2020, Gökçek was released from Silivri Detention Center under house arrest due to a medical certificate of incapacity. From there he continued the hunger strike with Bölek in a house in Küçükarmutlu. With their hunger strike, they protested against the imprisonment of the band members and against a concert ban. In March 2020, Gökçek and Bölek were forcibly taken to hospital by police to be force-fed because of their hunger strike. They were only allowed to leave the clinic after six days. On April 3, 2020, Bölek died on the 288th day of her “death fast”. At her funeral in Okmeydanı district, clashes with police and arrests broke out. Gökçek finished his death fast on May 5, 2020 and was hospitalized. It was the 322nd day of his death fast. Two days later, on May 7, Gökçek also died as a result of the hunger strike. The following day, when Gökçek was to be buried in Istanbul's Sultangazi district , there were heavy clashes with the police, whereupon the funeral service had to be broken off. There were 17 arrests, including the group's two lawyers. The police forced their way into the Cemevi where the coffin with Gökçek's body had been kept and confiscated it. Gökçek was then brought to his native town of Kayseri for the night and buried there the following day.

In August 2020, a band rehearsal in Polonezköy was stormed by the police and the Idil cultural center in Istanbul was searched and 9 people were provisionally arrested.

Others

Grup Yorum also gives concerts in Europe, including Germany . The band is under contract with Kalan Müzik . The texts contain Turkish, Arabic, Zazaki and other dialects of Kurdish as well as the Lasic language , an almost extinct language in northern Turkey. Some members of the group run the İdil Kültür Merkezi cultural center in the Okmeydanı district of Istanbul.

Band members

  • Singing : Selma Altın, Eren Olcay, Ezgi Dilan Balcı, Sultan Gökçek, Helin Bölek († 2020)
  • Bağlama : İhsan Cibelik, Ayfer Rüzgar
  • Guitar : Muharrem Cengiz
  • Piano : İnan Altın
  • Wind instrument : Ali Aracı, Selma Altın, İhsan Cibelik, Bahar Kurt
  • E-bass : İbrahim Gökçek († 2020)
  • Percussion : İnan Altın

Discography

  • Sıyrılıp Gelen (1987)
  • Haziranda Ölmek Zor / Berivan (1988)
  • Türkülerle (1989)
  • Cemo / Gün Gelir (1989)
  • Gel ki Şafaklar Tutuşsun (1990)
  • Yürek Çağrısı (1991)
  • Cesaret (1992)
  • Hiç Durmadan (1993)
  • İleri (1995)
  • Geliyoruz (1996)
  • Marşlarımız (1997)
  • Boran Fırtınası (1998)
  • Kucaklaşma (1999)
  • Onbeşinci Yıl Seçmeler (2000)
  • Eylül (2001)
  • Feda (2001)
  • Biz Varız (2003)
  • Yürüyüş (2003)
  • In Concert (2005)
  • Yıldızlar Kuşandık (2006)
  • Başeğmeden (2008)
  • Halkın Elleri (2014)
  • Ruhi Su (2015)
  • İlle Kavga (2017)

Web links

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  1. ^ Political protest at a Turkish concert in Oberhausen. In: derwesten.de . June 10, 2013, accessed March 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ Unutalım gitsin ( Memento from July 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: taraf.com.tr . April 19, 2011 (Turkish).
  3. ↑ Deniz Yücel: Where does the music end, where does the propaganda begin? In: welt.de. June 26, 2015, accessed January 24, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Death fast in protest: The Turkish band "Grup Yorum". In: titles, theses, temperaments. ARD, accessed on May 18, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Deniz Yücel : Taksim is everywhere - The Gezi movement and the future of Turkey . Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-89401-791-0 , pp. 133-136 .
  6. ^ Alleged police torture against music group. In: hurriyetdailynews.com . September 19, 2012, accessed May 8, 2020.
  7. ↑ Leftist musicians 'tortured by Turkish police' In: egypt-today.com . September 19, 2012, accessed May 8, 2020.
  8. ^ Gezi victim remembered on anniversary of death as police detain protesters. In: hurriyetdailynews.com . March 11, 2015, accessed May 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ Sükriye Akar: "The streets are ours". In: jungewelt.de . April 14, 2015, accessed May 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ Peter Nowak : When a band is declared a security risk. In: Telepolis . November 4, 2015, accessed November 4, 2015.
  11. ↑ Death from hunger strike. Retrieved May 19, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Peter Nowak: When German geopolitics is confused with human rights policy. In: peter-nowak-journalist.de. November 4, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2017 . .
  13. ↑ Fear releases strength. In: tagesspiegel.de . December 26, 2016, accessed May 8, 2020.
  14. ↑ Michael Streitberg: Freedom for Grup Yorum! In: young world . November 25, 2016 ( jungewelt.de [accessed January 22, 2017]).
  15. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: All captured Grup Yorum members released. “Our place is not in the courts, but in the concert halls”. ) In: lokalkompass.de .@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.lokalkompass.de
  16. ↑ a b c Death Fasting Grup Yorum Member Helin Bölek Loses Her Life. In: bianet.org. April 3, 2020, accessed April 4, 2020 .
  17. ↑ a b c 2 of 10 Arrested Grup Yorum Band Members Released. In: bianet.org. January 19, 2019, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  18. ↑ a b Erk Acarer: Repressions against Grup Yorum: İbrahim Gökçek ends hunger strike. In: taz.de. May 5, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Members of the music collective Grup Yorum on hunger strike in jail for months. In: duvarenglish.com. December 25, 2019, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  20. ^ Grup Yorum - ARC. Retrieved May 8, 2020 (American English).
  21. ^ Grup Yorum - ARC. Retrieved May 8, 2020 (American English).
  22. ^ Grup Yorum - ARC. Retrieved May 8, 2020 (American English).
  23. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Starved. Retrieved May 8, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Bölek'in cenazesinin yıkanmasına izin verilmedi. Retrieved May 8, 2020 (Turkish).
  25. ↑ İbrahim Gökçek vefat etti. In: gazeteduvar.com.tr. May 7, 2020, accessed May 7, 2020 (Turkish).
  26. ↑ Grup Yorum: Died in the resistance. Retrieved May 17, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Lonely death of Grup Yorum bassist highlights Turkey hunger strikes | Turkey | The Guardian. Retrieved May 8, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Turkish authorities disrupt funeral of Grup Yorum hunger striker. Retrieved May 9, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Yasin DALKILIÇ-Muhammed KISIR- Selma KARA / KAYSERİ, (DHA): Grup Yorum üyesi Gökçek, Kayseri'de toprağa verildi. Retrieved May 9, 2020 (Turkish).
  30. ↑ Grup Yorum üyesi İbrahim Gökçek defnedildi. Retrieved May 10, 2020 (Turkish).
  31. ^ Grup Yorum band members released after detention during rehearsal. Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Grup Yorum said with more than ten thousand fans in Germany “No to racism”. ( Memento of October 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: halkinsesi.tv . June 3, 2012.
  33. ↑ Rusen Tayfur: You are behind protests in Turkey. In: derwesten.de . June 9, 2013, accessed May 8, 2020.