A member of a Turkish socialist music collective died after being on a hunger strike for 288 days protesting persecution by the authorities and a ban on the group’s concerts.
Grup Yorum – yorum means comment or interpretation in Turkish – on Friday announced the death of one of two hunger-striking members, singer Helin Bolek.
“Our demands were never that difficult to meet,’’ a solidarity group tweeted.
Bolek and Ibrahim Gokcek were on a fast unto death, demanding the government lift the ban on their concerts, release jailed members, remove members from wanted lists, drop lawsuits against them and stop raiding their cultural centres.
The government says Yorum is linked to the far left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), which is designated as a terrorist organisation in Turkey.
The collective, formed in 1985 by four friends, became popular in Turkey and internationally for its left wing stance that combined Turkish and Kurdish folk music.
Their focus on anti-capitalism, opposition to Ankara’s policies, anti-gentrification and tracks about a mining disaster that killed more than 300 also drew condemnation from the authorities.
In 2017, they released the album `Ille Kavga,’ which means struggle no matter what, the cover shows instruments allegedly smashed by police during a raid the previous year.
