Prominent Kurdish folk singer Ferhat Tunç on Monday announced on Twitter that he was leaving Turkey due to government harassment and oppression.
“They (authorities) were not satisfied with the prison sentence; they started several new investigations and criminal cases against me with the claims of ‘making propaganda of (terrorist) organisation’ and ‘membership of organisation’ and they continue filing news cases. On top of it, they pointed me as a target.”
FERHAT TUNÇ✔@ferhatttunc
1- Hakkımdaki 2 yıllık hapis cezası kararıyla yetinmediler; düğmeye basılmış gibi ‘örgüt propagandası’ ve ‘örgüt üyeliği’ iddialarıyla çok sayıda yeni soruşturma ve davalar açtılar, açmaya devam ediyorlar. Dahası hedef gösterdiler.
Last September, a Turkish judge gave the Kurdish singer a nearly two-year jail sentence for conducting terror propaganda through his social media postings.
Tunç said he began a “difficult journey” on Monday, leaving a “tired, wounded country behind”. “Without taking a step back, I will continue to think, speak, produce abroad for some time,” he added.
FERHAT TUNÇ✔@ferhatttunc
3- Kimliğim, kişiliğim bana yoldaşlık arz eden bağlamam ve sesimle zor bir yolculuğa çıktım bugün; geride tırnaklarımla kazıdığım bir hayat, yaralı, yorgun bir ülke bırakarak. Düşünmeye, konuşmaya, üretmeye bir süreliğine yurt dışında devam edeceğim. Bir adım bile geri atmadan.
Tunç, who is from mainly Kurdish-Alevi Dersim in east Turkey, maintains a politically-charged Twitter account with a particular interest in issues affecting Turkey’s Kurdish and Alevi populations, as well as human rights violations.
Tunç was a parliamentary candidate for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the general elections of June 2018.
source: Ahval News
