Kurdish music is banned “to protect lifestyle of our citizens”: Turkish Interior Minister

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Kurdish music is banned “to protect lifestyle of our citizens”: Interior Minister
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, responding to a parliamentary inquiry, said appeals for permits by Kurdish artists were rejected by local governments over concerns for safety and protection of "citizens' lifestyles".

3:32 pm 10/11/2022

Local government officials in Turkey have refused to grant Kurdish musicians performance permits due to concerns for safety and to protect “citizens’ lifestyles”, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said in response to a parliamentary inquiry.

“These decisions were made not to interfere with lifestyles, but to protect the lifestyles and safety of our citizens,” news website Duvar cited Soylu as saying on Thursday. The majority of the minister’s response consisted of citations of the law.

The inquiry came from main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu, who is himself Kurdish. Tanrıkulu asked why internationally renowned musicians such as Pervin Chakar, Aynur Doğan and Mem Ararat had not been allowed to sing in the last six years.

In May this year, an Aynur Doğan concert in the northwestern Turkish province of Kocaeli was cancelled by the local municipality and labelled by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), as “inappropriate”.

Kurdish soprano Pervin Chakar was also barred from performing in a university hall in the Kurdish-majority Mardin (Mêrdîn) province, run by an AKP proxy who replaced the elected mayor. Chakar faced the ban due to her repertoire that included songs in Kurdish.

Turkish authorities have cancelled numerous concerts and festivals in recent months, and conservative or nationalist reasons are often openly cited.

Human rights lawyer Tanrıkulu said in a tweet on Thursday that Soylu’s response, “documents how Kurdish has been banned under the AKP government ‘on the grounds of lifestyle’.”

https://medyanews.net/kurdish-music-...rior-minister/


Mardini
Turkey has banned the Kurdish language and music in order to create its non existence Turkish language and the music.

Ted
Absurd, ridiculous and unbeleavable. It's hard to believe that in 21st Century they're going to such measures to stamp out the cultural idenity of such large group of people in their country.

Yekbun Welat
Very scientific approach, Europe shld also ban Turkish barbarian,faschist culture for security reasons n to protect people s lifestyle

[TheForeigner]

I guess Turkey has not changed much since the days of Mustafa Kemal and his toxic, fascistic Turkish nationalism. No European country today would dare suppress a language, culture and people or minority like this in our times and they shouldn't either.

[TheForeigner]

I also changed my mind from years ago and I know support the creation of Kurdish independent state. It should have happened after ww1 or at least a British or French mandate territory at first, at the time.