Grup Yorum reacted to the rejection of their concert application by the governor of Istanbul. Members of the band had announced they learned of the denial from the Governorate webpage, as no notification had been sent to them.

The band had applied to the Governorate asking to be granted permission to hold their concert on 9 August in Yenikapı, Istanbul.

However, the Governorship of Istanbul refused the application for concerts. In a statement issued after learning of the refusal, Grup Yorum noted that their application was rejected just 9 hours after been filed. “The application was declared as “not approved by the Governorship”. Based on what?” asked the band.

Grup Yorum added in its statement: “There is no reasonable justification for not allowing a concert. The main fear of the establishment is that millions will be shouting slogan for an Independent Turkey and demand justice. This is the only reason why the Governorate said they had rejected our application for concert immediately after we shared a poster announcing it.”

The band said that they will appeal the decision and added that they will perform their concerts by overcoming the obstacles. “We will continue to prepare our concert. We said we’d given our word to Helin and Ibrahim. Helin and Ibrahim fell martyrs demanding to hold concerts. Prohibitions and repression would not be able to silence the voice of millions. Because our song, Helin Bölek, has raised the world. Ibrahim Gökçek united the peoples of the world. Grup Yorum represents the peoples of the world. We have overcome all obstacles with our resistance, and we will continue to overcome them. We will do our concert. Our friends paid the heaviest price to be able to hold a concert, we will make their dream true.”

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