Music ban after midnight: ‘Musicians get poor, businesses shut down’

Özcan Purçu, the İzmir MP of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has brought the music ban after midnight into the Parliamentary agenda.

Submitting a Parliamentary inquiry, the main opposition MP has addressed the problems caused by the music ban, which was introduced as part of the COVID-19 measures in Turkey, but is still in effect even though several other measures such as the outdoors mask mandate and contact tracing code (HES code) requirements have been lifted in the country.

Representing the Romani people, who usually make music for a living, at the Parliament and making legislative efforts oriented towards offering solutions to their problems, CHP’s Purçu has underlined that “while several business lines have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the entertainment world has been on the top of this list.”

The MP has underlined that “due to the indefinite restrictions, musicians had to sell their instruments and shut down their businesses”.

Recalling that some musicians even committed suicide in this difficult period, he has said, “There is still no step taken in spite of this!”

CHP MP Purçu has noted that “as a result of the ongoing music ban, the pandemic is still making life harder for the laborers of entertainment industry, who feel the negative effects of the pandemic the most”.

Purçu has also reminded the Parliament of the working conditions of musicians: “Most of the musicians make a living on daily earnings and they work in unregistered and unsecure conditions. The bans that have been increasing over the last few years due to the pandemic cause them to lose their sources of income, thus causing them to become poorer”.

The MP has underlined that several business owners who cannot meet their expenses have found themselves in a difficult situation.

Speaking about the ban on music after midnight, which entered into force in Turkey by a circular issued in May 2020, Purçu said:

“Becoming meaningless now, it has caused inequality among the sectors. Moreover, careful consideration must be the case to ensure that the bans imposed as part of pandemic measures do not go beyond the limits of interfering with lifestyles. For this reason, it has been a must to make the necessary legal arrangements to lift the related music ban”. (EMK/SD)