Kurdish artists Helim Arslan (Omerî) and Azad Bedran Kızılkar were taken into custody in Amed (Diyarbakır) on Monday. According to reports, Arslan was detained at his home, while Kızılkar was detained at the airport. The reason for the artists’ detention could not be learned.

The Kurdish cultural movement TEV-CAND Europe released a statement and condemned the detention of Kurdish artists, saying, ‘The genocide policies against Kurdish existence and culture under the leadership of AKP-MHP fascism have entered a new stage.”

Remarking that the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan has deepened and the threats against the existence of Kurdistan and the Kurdish people have turned into uninterrupted persecution, the statement said: “The intolerance against the will of the Kurdish people has today turned into intolerance against the Kurdish language, the Kurdish dance and all Kurdish values.”

Stating that the Kurdish people are exposed to fascism in every aspect, TEV-ÇAND Europe underlined that there is a culture of resistance against this at every moment.

Noting that fascism, which is trying to embody cultural genocide, will drown in the culture befitting the spirit of Mesopotamia, TEV-ÇAND Europe expressed that they know the reason for all attacks against Kurdish culture and art. “In the person of artists Azad Bedran and Halîm Omerî, it is Kurdish culture and art that is targeted,” it said.

“We condemn these attempts and call on all artistic fronts to take an effective stance,” said TEV-ÇAND Europe, reacting to the unlimited hostility of the Turkish state against MKM (Mesopotamia Cultural Center) artists.