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Grup Yorum - the most revolutionary band in the world?
Adored by thousands in Turkey, they have faced performance bans, confiscation of their releases, jail – and now six members are wanted as 'terrorists.' Speaking from prison, members of GRUP YORUM tell their remarkable story to Steve Sweeney
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FORMED at an Istanbul university in 1985, Grup Yorum is one of Turkey’s best known bands. During that time the collective has undergone an almost constant series of changes with its members targeted by the Turkish state because of their political stances. This has included around 400 arrests and trials, the banning of concerts and other performances and the seizure by the police of their albums.
Despite the repression they remain hugely popular among Turkish and Kurdish progressives, with hundreds of thousands turning out to their annual open air concerts, held up until 2015. Recently however the situation has worsened. Their 2016 event was cancelled at the last minute, their community centre has been raided by police eight times in the last two years and now at least 30 core members have been detained.
Six members of Grup Yorum have been placed on the Turkish state’s notorious “grey list” as wanted terrorists with a 300,000 Turkish lira bounty on their heads. More than 10 of the band members are in prison.
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