Artist Ferhat Tunç has testified at Dersim Court for two days in connection with nine separate investigations and cases opened against him for the speeches he made during the last electoral campaign as candidate of the Labor, Democracy and Freedom Bloc.

Tunç faces the obligation to attend trials of numerous cases which were opened on the basis of the expressions he used such as “martyr”, “Mr. Öcalan” and “guerrilla”.

Tunç, remarking that he has been taken to court numerous times because of the speeches he made, said the followings; “I used the words of “guerrilla” and “Mr. Öcalan” on a TV program in the election campaign earlier this year. In the speech I made about military operations, I identified those fighting people as “guerrillas” in compliance with the terminology in world literature. I am not of the opinion that this expression could constitute a crime. I was acquitted in all earlier cases where the accusation was the same. As to the title of “Mr.”, I used it basing on the Turkish Language Society. Although these speeches should mainly be assessed within the scope of freedom of expression, I am unfortunately exposed to a different treatment. My call for peace and democracy has been evaluated as if it was for violence and rebellion.”