Mersin Court of Peace placed a Turkey-wide ban on HDP’s referendum song “Bêjin Na”.

The court decision claims that the lyrics “No to a single flag, no to a single nation, no to a single language” in Kurdish are unconstitutional.

The song “Bêjin Na” sung by musician Seyda Perinçek and used as the referendum song for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi - HDP) was banned in some cities in Turkey and now with a decree from the Mersin Court of Peace No:2, it has been banned throughout Turkey. The court claimed the song doesn’t comply with the first 3 articles of the constitution and alleged that it “incite(d) people to spite and animosity”. The decree also claims that saying “No” to motto used by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, “One Flag One State One Nation” is unconstitutional.

The ban was announced in writing to province and district offices of HDP. The court’s decree on “Bêjin Na” is as follows:

“The song called Bêjin Na in Kurdish (“Say No”) prepared to be used in referendum efforts by the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which can be found online at the party’s website at http://www.hdp.org.tr among propaganda material, includes lyrics “No to a single flag, no to a single nation, no to a single language” that are against the Republic of Turkey’s Constitution stating that “The State of Turkey is an indivisible whole with the country and the nation. Its language is Turkish.” The lyrics incite people to spite and animosity according to the Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code. The lyrics have been assessed to go against Article 78, “Prohibitions on protecting the democratic state order”, Article 80, “Protecting the unity principle of the state”, Article 81, “Prevention of creation of minorities” and Article 82, “Ban on regionalism and racism” of the Political Parties Act No.2820 and the Mersin Court of Peace No.2 has ruled to ban the Kurdish song Bêjin Na (Say No) with Decree no. 2017/1410 dated 01/04/2017.”