A Kurdish musician, Seyithan Karataþ, who gave a concert during an election gathering in Karayazý on June 2, 2011 have been sentenced to nine and a half years on the allegation of being a member of an illegal organization and making propaganda of an illegal organization. The court found Karataþ guilty on the grounds that two songs he sang included the words ‘Kurdish’ and ‘Kurdistan.’

Karataþ who has already been jailed for nine months has pointed out that the ruling was unjust for the two words -evidence of crime- were pronounced every day on the state-run Kurdish television channel TRT6.