Free Kurd Singer Nudem Durak: Stop This Cruel Mockery of the Peace Process

KT Report:

Nudem Durak

Nudem Durak

The case of Nudem Durak, the young Kurdish singer recently jailed by the Turkish authorities, places another huge question mark over the faltering peace process between the Turkish state and the country’s 15-million-plus Kurds. Nudem, a talented young woman who is not directly involved in politics, has been thrown into jail, according to her lawyer, for “promoting Kurdish propaganda by teaching Kurdish folk songs to youth music groups”. Her plight was highlighted last week in a short film produced by Al Jazeera Plus:

Daniel Song, who is based in California, met Nudem earlier this year while travelling in the region. He was shocked by the news of her arrest and is trying to instigate an international campaign for her release.

“I don’t know Nudem well”, Daniel told KT. “I met her at the apartment of a host’s flat in Cizre some months ago, as I was traveling with two friends through Kurdistan in Turkey and Iraq. We spent a nice evening with other new Kurdish friends singing and dancing to traditional Kurdish music, and conversed with Nudem via Google translate, and she also showed us some Youtube documentary films. She told us that the police wanted to arrest her for doing something like singing in Kurdish …

“Afterwards, I have kept in basic contact with Nudem over Facebook. My impression through our interactions is that she is a gentle, good-hearted woman who was following her passion, music and Kurdish culture. She seems to me an innocent victim of a greater conflict and politics.

“The following is the information we know about Nudem so far:

  • Nudem was arrested on April 22nd and taken to Mardin Type E prison.
  • She hasn’t been eating due to being too upset.
  • She has a ‘supreme court’ level hearing due in one year’s time.
  • According to her lawyer, she has been charged with “promoting Kurdish propaganda by teaching Kurdish folk songs to youth music groups”.
  • According to Nûdem’s lawyer, there is no change in her legal status. He reported that she is allowed 10 minutes of telephone access a week. The prison doesn’t allow CDs within its facility, but Nûdem’s brother will be bringing her a guitar, so she can continue to play”.

Nudem Durak faces ten and a half years imprisonment – for singing and promoting Kurdish culture. Her plight mirrors that of countless Kurds and others jailed in Turkey on spurious anti-terrorism and other pretexts, as the state veers towards authoritarianism. How can there be a meaningful peace proces while Nudem’s beautiful voice is silenced? Her case should be taken up by freedom-loving people everywhere.

8 Responses to Free Kurd Singer Nudem Durak: Stop This Cruel Mockery of the Peace Process
  1. […] Kurdistan Tribune: Free Kurd Singer Nudem Durak: Stop This Cruel Mockery of the Peace Process […]

  2. […] in 2010 for playing a Kurdish folk song in public. » Kurdistan Tribune – 3 May 2015: Free Kurd Singer Nudem Durak: Stop This Cruel Mockery of the Peace Process “The case of Nudem Durak, the young Kurdish singer recently jailed by the Turkish authorities, […]

  3. ismet
    May 4, 2015 | 17:40

    Nudem she should be free

  4. Parvin
    May 6, 2015 | 18:40

    Help free thousands of Kurdish Journalists, HR Activists & Political Dissidents in Iran & Turkey.

  5. Rev Allen Morgan
    May 11, 2015 | 20:37

    Free this creative and gifted artist. She has done nothing wrong. How can the European Community welcome a country that imprisons artists for teaching their craft. I urge the government of Turkey to return the freedom of Nudem Durak.

  6. arkades
    June 14, 2015 | 12:23

    Oh my God it’s so sad 🙁 !!!
    That’s no democracy.
    Maybe it will be change now with the victory of the HDP.
    I want to help her, but how can we do that ?

  7. Jim Martin
    July 4, 2015 | 02:16

    Would like to know more about her story. I googled her and came upon this story and it seams well researched that Turkey, even as our friends and allies has a serious and fundamental problem, and Nûdem Durak

    http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Kurdish-musician-in-Turkey-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison-for-singing-in-Kurdish-402882

    By doing this to this women and others the Turkish government is forcing its own people into a dark past and these comments are coming from friends and allies of the Turkish people

    Does anyone have more information perhaps publishing the charges that she faced, for or against??

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