Freemuse petition for dengbej Raziye Kýzýl
Freemuse petition for dengbej Raziye Kýzýl
Freemuse (the world forum on music and censorship advocating freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide) has launched a petition for dengbej Raziye Kýzýl (also known as Gazin). The woman storyteller (dengbej) was sentenced to one year in prison for having sung two Kurdish songs and thereby “making propaganda for an illegal organisation”. A second trial against her now carries an extra five-year prison threat.
On 7 February 2010, Raziye ‘Gazin‘ Kýzýl, who is a singer and president of Komela Jinen Dengbej (House of Women Singers), sang the two Kurdish songs ‘Megri’ (‘Don't Cry’) and ‘Lo Lawo’ upon request at an event held at the Tatvan Municpality Culture Centre in south-eastern Turkey.
The event was recorded on video by the police, and based on Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law, Kýzýl was later sentenced by Van 3rd High Criminal Court to one year imprisonment on charges of “making propaganda for an illegal organisation”, reported Oktay Candemir for BIA News.
In court, the Tatvan Police had put forward that in these two songs Kýzýl praised two members of an illegal organisation, Mesut and Mustafa, who were killed in armed conflicts in the Gabar mountains.
Mistakes in the translation
Kýzýl said that the police made mistakes in the translation of the lyrics. She pointed out that the words "Gabar" and "Mesut" as mentioned by the police did not even occur in the songs. The court did not accept the related objection.
"This song is about two students called Mustafa and Mahsun who were killed in the course of the Amara demonstration in 2009 as the result of the military intervention. The word 'Amara' was translated as 'Gabar'. The name 'Mahsun' was translated as 'Mesut'. And these two people were depicted [in the translation] as terrorists killed at 'Gabar'. However, the court did not even take my defence seriously. They gave me a one-year punishment based on the wrong lyrics as translated by the police", Kýzýl told BIA News.
Kýzýl criticized the fact that people like her are still being punished for Kurdish songs: "Turkey has to overcome this. What are they trying to do? What we are saying is just a work of music. In any case, what is the benefit for the country to open a case by reasons of supposed meanings. It is impossible to understand this anti-democratic application against a local artist like me while TRT6 is broadcasting in Kurdish. I wish we did not have these issues in this country any more. These trials are sad for all of us. We are artists. It does not matter if you are a Turk, a Kurd, a Laz or a Circassian — everybody should be able to sing songs freely in their mother language. It cannot be a crime to sing a folk song", Kýzýl stated.
Five-year prison threat
Kýzýl is facing another five-year sentence in the scope of a trial based on a song she sang at the Newroz festival in Erciþ / Van in 2010. She is tried before the Erciþ High Criminal Court under allegations of “singing a song with separatist contents.”
On 7 February 2010, Raziye ‘Gazin‘ Kýzýl, who is a singer and president of Komela Jinen Dengbej (House of Women Singers), sang the two Kurdish songs ‘Megri’ (‘Don't Cry’) and ‘Lo Lawo’ upon request at an event held at the Tatvan Municpality Culture Centre in south-eastern Turkey.
The event was recorded on video by the police, and based on Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law, Kýzýl was later sentenced by Van 3rd High Criminal Court to one year imprisonment on charges of “making propaganda for an illegal organisation”, reported Oktay Candemir for BIA News.
In court, the Tatvan Police had put forward that in these two songs Kýzýl praised two members of an illegal organisation, Mesut and Mustafa, who were killed in armed conflicts in the Gabar mountains.
Mistakes in the translation
Kýzýl said that the police made mistakes in the translation of the lyrics. She pointed out that the words "Gabar" and "Mesut" as mentioned by the police did not even occur in the songs. The court did not accept the related objection.
"This song is about two students called Mustafa and Mahsun who were killed in the course of the Amara demonstration in 2009 as the result of the military intervention. The word 'Amara' was translated as 'Gabar'. The name 'Mahsun' was translated as 'Mesut'. And these two people were depicted [in the translation] as terrorists killed at 'Gabar'. However, the court did not even take my defence seriously. They gave me a one-year punishment based on the wrong lyrics as translated by the police", Kýzýl told BIA News.
Kýzýl criticized the fact that people like her are still being punished for Kurdish songs: "Turkey has to overcome this. What are they trying to do? What we are saying is just a work of music. In any case, what is the benefit for the country to open a case by reasons of supposed meanings. It is impossible to understand this anti-democratic application against a local artist like me while TRT6 is broadcasting in Kurdish. I wish we did not have these issues in this country any more. These trials are sad for all of us. We are artists. It does not matter if you are a Turk, a Kurd, a Laz or a Circassian — everybody should be able to sing songs freely in their mother language. It cannot be a crime to sing a folk song", Kýzýl stated.
Five-year prison threat
Kýzýl is facing another five-year sentence in the scope of a trial based on a song she sang at the Newroz festival in Erciþ / Van in 2010. She is tried before the Erciþ High Criminal Court under allegations of “singing a song with separatist contents.”
