ISTANBUL - Talking about the ongoing pressures on Kurdish cultural and artistic works, Talat Yeşil, one of the MKM artists, said: “A society exists, moves forward and develops with art. Even if we enter the dungeon, this struggle will continue."
Culture and art are among the areas where assimilation policies against Kurds are most concentrated. The last example of the existing policies took place in Eskişehir on October 21. 23 people, including musicians, were detained at a wedding in Kireç village of Odunpazarı district, where Kurds live predominantly, on the grounds that "a terrorist organization propaganda was made through the songs sung".
While today's oppression policy against the Kurdish identity is as bad as the 1990s, the work carried out in this field continues with great determination. Talat Yeşil, one of the artists of Mesopotamia Cultural Center (MKM), said that they will continue with new projects despite all the pressures and prohibitions.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND SOCIETY
Stating that he grew up in a war environment, Yeşil said: "I started my culture and arts activities with a children's choir in 2005. I have continued my work since then. Art should be handled by society. The existence of the society is directly linked to art. If there is no art in a society, there will be no society there. Society moves forward with art and develops with art. That's why we cannot discuss society without art. If life is a tree, art is the leaves and beauty of that tree."
PRESSURE ON KURDISH ART
Drawing attention to the bans and pressures Kurdish artists face, Yeşil said: "If it were not for the pressure on us, we could have done more than twice the work I mentioned. Investigations and lawsuits are still being filed against us today due to the songs we sang in the rallies they performed. "Death threats" are written under the clips shared on our social platforms. Recently, artists and participants were detained at a wedding in Eskişehir just because we sang in Kurdish. For every concert I attended, I was either investigated, sued or threatened. Last year, I attended the Newroz celebrations in Mersin. When I went to the region voluntarily after the earthquake on February 6, I was detained and gave a statement. Of course, while there are these pressures on one side, the struggle continues on the other hand."
'THE STRUGGLE NEVER END'
Stating that there are also attacks on language institutions, associations, academies, women and political parties outside the field of culture and arts, Yeşil continued: "It should be known that as long as there is pressure, there will be resistance. They cannot distract them from their work through detention, arrest and lawsuits. Maybe we can go to prison, but this struggle will continue."