İbrahim Gökçek, a member of Grup Yorum on a death fast who was released from Silivri No 9 Closed Prison on February 24, continues the death fast in the Resistance House in Sarıyer with Helik Bölek. İbrahim Gökçek who started the hunger strike with the demands of the removal of the concert bans on Grup Yorum, the removal of the band members from the res list and stopping the raids on İdil Culture Center, has been on a death fast since January 3.  Gökçek who spoke to our agency at the Resistance House emphasized the importance of struggle for arts.

 

Reminding that he was deprived of his liberty for about 10 months, Gökçek said: "We have been through many unlawful situations. The prison administration tortured us. They confiscated our books, there were barbed wires above us all the time.. It was a process that we have passed through every moment with pressures."

 

Mentioning his struggle in the prison, Gökçek said: "I used to stay there with poet Ümit İlter. We wrote theater plays and poems. I wrote at least 10 new songs. One of the things I want most is to be able to sing these songs out there. Gökçek stating that he made a radio program called 'Pravda under the Door', said Pravda means 'Truth' in Russian. With us, the truth is always whispered under the door. The ties to a prisoner to life is always under the door. That's why it meant a lot. I am trying to continue that as much as I can'.

 

'WE MUST FIGHT FOR ART'

 

Gökçek, stating that Grup Yorum is not the only band facing pressure, said: "They are trying to silence everyone who is not like them. This is unacceptable. If we try to bend over until the storm is gone, then all our veteran artists like Pir Sultan, Karacaoğlan, Nazım Hikmet, Orhan Kemal is forever gone. Dead. In order for those masters to live on, we have to defend their values until the end. We must fight for art."

 

 

"We do not want the artists in this country or the world to be under the pressure of imperialism and fascism," Gökçek continued, underlining that they are fighting for this. Stating that the system did not give anything other than hunger to people and rape and harrassment for children, Gökçek said: "We are teaching these children to play an instrument, we were playing for free for the people. Peace will come when we are able to do these things freely."

 

 

MA / Tolga Güney