Grup Yorum

Grup Yorum is a band from Turkey known for their political

songwriting. Grup Yorum (Yorum means interpretation or comment
Grup Yorum
in Turkish) has released twenty-three albums and one film since Origin Istanbul, Turkey
1985. Some of the group's concerts and albums were banned over Genres Folk rock, folk,
the years, and some of the group members have been arrested, jailed, protest music, left,
and allegedly tortured.[2] Yorum remains popular and their albums
political music,
continue to sell well in Turkey and internationally. Yorum has also
türkü
given concerts in Germany, Austria, Australia, France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, United Kingdom, Greece and Years active 1985–present
Syria.[3] Labels Kalan, Cem Müzik
Yapım
The group publishes an art, culture, literature, and music magazine
entitled Tavir, and several group members manage a cultural center Members Selma Altın, İnan
in the Okmeydanı neighborhood of Istanbul called İdil Kültür Altın, Bahar Kurt,
Merkezi.[4] Ali Aracı, Barış
Yüksel

Past members Metin Kahraman,

Contents Kemal Sahir Gürel,
History Hilmi Yarayıcı, İlkay
Films Akkaya, Efkan
Treatment by the state Şeşen, Ufuk Lüker,
Hunger strike Helin Bölek,
Ibrahim Gökçek[1]
Members
Current members
Past members
Discography
Studio albums
Singles and EPs
Compilations
Songs
See also
References
Further reading
External links

History
In 1985, four friends at Marmara University formed Grup Yorum.[5] Influenced by the Latin American
Nueva Cancion movement, they combined Turkish and Kurdish folk music and topical song with a left-
wing, often satirical, perspective.[6] in 1987 their first album Siyrilip Gelen was released.[5] While the
government frequently asserts that the group is tied to the DHKP-C, and it is not uncommon for the
audience at their concerts to chant DHKP-C slogans, Grup Yorum is not formally affiliated with any other
organization and its fans represent a broad range of Turkish and Kurdish left-wing orientations.[7]

They have sung about capitalism, imperialism, anti-Americanism, and the Turkish government's policies,
which they say penalize the poor. One track is about the clearing of poor neighborhoods to make way for
expensive skyscrapers. Grup Yorum was also the first band in Turkey to have a Kurdish song on an album.
In 1993, a lorry containing their album "Cesaret" was on the way to Diyarbakir when it was stopped by
Turkish Gendarmerie and the boxes containing the albums were shot at with live ammunition.

The group's composition has been in a constant state of change since its inception, and its members have
continuously experienced political oppression, including over 400 arrests and trials (approximately 400).
Their albums have been seized by police and their concerts banned, but despite this Grup Yorum has been
one of the top-selling groups in the history of Turkey. The band gave their 25th anniversary concert on 12
June 2010 in İnönü Stadium, home to sports club Beşiktaş J.K.. The concert was attended by 55,000 fans.[8]
Starting in 2011, Grup Yorum began an annual series of free concerts entitled Tam Bağımsız Türkiye, the
first two of which attracted 150,000 and 250,000 fans respectively.[9]

Towards the end of 2017, they released the album "İlle Kavga" (meaning struggle no matter what) [10] and
their album cover shows instruments that were destroyed by police during a raid in 2016 on their cultural
centre[11]

Films

Whilst the group is mostly known for the songs it creates, in 2012 they also produced a film called F-Tipi
(F-Type). F-Tipi is a film about the experiences of political prisoners in F-Type prisons following the
simultaneous "Return to Life Operation" in 19 prisons on 19 December 2000. The film was developed by
Grup Yorum and directed by 10 directors (Hüseyin Karabey, Ezel Akay, Reis Çelik, Aydın Bulut, Barış
Pirhasan, Mehmet İlker Altınay, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Vedat Özdemir).[12] The film premiered on 19
December 2012 at Atlas Cinema, Istanbul and on 21 December 2012 it entered cinemas in Turkey.[13] The
film, which was released for 14 weeks, was viewed by 75,643 people. One of the film's directors, Ezel Akay,
said that the film had been subjected to censorship by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality even before it
was released. Despite payment being made, film posters were not hung in the subway by the municipality,
wall posters were removed, and people who were putting up the posters were detained. The film screening
in Samsun was cancelled following the threatening of the cinema owners by police and supporters of the
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The film was shown in many countries including the United Kingdom,
Germany, France.[13]

In a 2018 press statement, exiled Grup Yorum member Inan Altın said that a new film was in the process of
being developed. He added that the police had raided the location of the filming, and that it was becoming
impossible to create the film in Turkey.

Treatment by the state

On 18 January 2013, five members of the group were accused of DHKP-C membership and arrested.[14]
They were released three days later.[15]

In October 2016 the Turkish police raided the Idil Cultural Center and destroyed music instruments of the
band.[16] Later the band published a video were they played a song on their broken instruments.[17] In
November 2016, eight members of Grup Yorum were arrested at a concert they gave. They were released
the following spring.[18]
In February 2018, Ali Aracı, İbrahim Gökçek, Selma Altın, İnan Altın, Emel Yeşilırma, and İhsan Cibelik
were placed on the wanted list of the Turkish government. These members were put on the grey list, which
meant a 300,000 Turkish lira bounty on their heads.[19] Selma and Inan Altın left Turkey and applied for
asylum in France in July 2018.[20] Ibrahim Gökçek was detained on 26 February 2019 and sent to Silivri
prison on 1 March 2019.[21]

Only in two years the Idil Cultural Center was raided 10 times and several members of the band were
arrested.[22] On 22 January 2019 Sultan Gökçek and Betül Varan were released, the members Seher
Adıgüzel, Ferhat Kıl, Helin Bölek, Dilan Ekin, Bahar Kurt, Özgür Gültekin, Meral Hır and Duygu
Yasinoğlu stayed in custody.[23] In February 2019 İbrahim Gökçek was again arrested and accused of being
a member of DHKP-C.[24]

In November 2019, Cologne police raided a venue and banned a Grup Yorum concert which was due to take
place in solidarity with members in Turkey.[25] The police statement said that the concert was forbidden, and
that the venue where the concert would be held would be closed by the police.[26]

Hunger strike

In May 2019 several members of the Grup Yorum began a hunger strike[5] in protest to the treatment the
band received from the Turkish Government. Their demands included that the Turkish Government ends
forbidding its concerts for three and release band members from prison[27] Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek
joined the hunger strike in June 2019.[28] Bölek and Bahar Kurt were released in November 2019, but they
kept on fasting.[5] On 4 January Gökçek and Bölek turned their hunger strike into a death fast. Following,
Gökçek was released on 25 February 2020,[27] but also he kept on fasting.[29] On 11 March 2020 Bölek and
Gökçek's house was raided by the police and were taken to hospital to receive treatment,[30] but as they
announced opposition to the treatment, they were released again.[29] In April 2020, Helin Bölek died after
288 days of hunger strike in a house in Istanbul's Küçükarmutlu where she had been staging the hunger
strike with Gökçek against the treatment of the band by the Turkish government.[31][32][33] On 5 May 2020
Gökçek ended his hunger-strike and was transferred to a hospital in Istanbul for treatment. On 7 May 2020
he died.[34] On the following day the funeral was stopped by the police in the Istanbul neighbourhood of
Sultangazi.[35] The police seized his coffin and broght his corpse to Kayseri, where he was burried.[36]

Members

Current members
Vocals : Selma Altın, Eren Olcay, Sultan Gökçek, Umut Gültekin, Ayfer Rüzgar, Betül Varan,
Fırat Kıl, Sena Erkoç
Bağlama : İhsan Cibelik, Meral Hır, Emel Yeşilırmak
Classic/acoustic guitar : Muharrem Cengiz, Dilan Ekin, Ekimcan Yıldırım
Keyboard instruments : İnan Altın
Wind instruments : Ali Aracı, Selma Altın, İhsan Cibelik, Bahar Kurt, Dilan Poyraz, Betül Varan,
Sena Erkoç
Bass guitar : Seher Adılgüzel
Percussion instruments : İnan Altın, Bergün Varan, Barış Yüksel
Choral vocals: Emel Yeşilırmak

Past members
 Vocals : Ayşegül Yordam(*), Efkan Şeşen, Hilmi Yarayıcı, İlkay Akkaya, Fikriye Kılınç, Özcan
Şenver, Gülbahar Uluer, Selma Çiçek, Nuray Erdem, Mesut Eröksüz, Beril Güzel, Aylin Şeşen,
Taner Tanrıverdi, Özgür Tekin, Öznur Turan, Aynur Dogan, Ezgi Dilan Balcı, Helin Bölek
Bağlama : Tuncay Akdoğan(*), Metin Kahraman(*), İrşad Aydın, Suat Kaya, Ufuk Lüker, Taner
Tanrıverdi, Seckin Taygun Aydogan, Cihan Keşkek, Özgür Zafer Gültekin
Classic/acoustic guitar : Kemal Sahir Gürel(*), Elif Sumru Göker, Hakan Alak, Serdar Güven,
Serdar Keskin, Ufuk Lüker, Vefa Saygın Öğütle, Erkan Sevil, Caner Bozkurt
Keyboard instruments : Kemal Sahir Gürel, Ufuk Lüker, Taci Uslu, Ali Papur
Wind instruments : Kemal Sahir Gürel
Bass guitar : Ejder Akdeniz, Hakan Alak, Ufuk Lüker, İbrahim Gökçek
Percussion instruments : Kemal Sahir Gürel, Ejder Akdeniz

(*) indicates a founding member.

Discography

Studio albums
Sıyrılıp Gelen (1987)[37]
Haziranda Ölmek Zor / Berivan (1991)
Türkülerle (1992)
Cesaret (1993)
Gel Ki Safaklar Tutussun (1993)
Hiç Durmadan (1993)
Cemo Gün Gelir (1994)
Ileri (1994)
Geliyoruz (1996)
Yürek Çagrisi (1998)
Destan (1998)
Yürüyüs (2003)
Feda (2005)
Yildizlar Kusandik (2006)
Başeğmeden (2008)
Halkın Elleri (2013)
Ruhi Su (2015)
İlle Kavga (2017)

Singles and EPs

Eylül (2001)[37]
Biz Variz (2003)

Compilations
Marslarimiz (1997)[37]
Kucaklasma (1998)
 Seçmeler 15. Yıl (2000)
Seçmeler 15. Yil (2) (2000)

Songs
Dersim'de Doğan Güneş

See also
Grup Munzur
Bandista
Halk Cephesi

References
1. Fraser, Suzan. "Member of Turkish band dies on 288th day of hunger strike" (https://www.was
hingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/member-of-turkish-folk-band-dies-on-288th-of-hunger-str
ike/2020/04/03/6d7ca4f4-75a7-11ea-ad9b-254ec99993bc_story.html). The Washington Post.
Retrieved 3 April 2020.
2. "Alleged police torture against music group" (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/alleged-police-t
orture-against-music-group.aspx?pageID=238&nid=30468). Hurriyet Daily News. 19
September 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
3. http://www.demokrathaber.net/kultur-sanat/grup-yorum-suriyede-konser-verdi-h19910.html
Grup Yorum Suriye'de konser verdi
4. "Grup Yorum'a 'Sen misin direnen' davası" (http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/grup_yoruma__se
n_misin_direnen_davasi-1094599). Radikal. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
5. "Grup Yorum — ARC" (https://artistsatriskconnection.org/story/grup-yorum).
artistsatriskconnection.org. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
6. Bates, Eliot (2010). Music in Turkey: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
7. Bates, Eliot (2014). Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 341
ff.
8. "İnönü'de 'Yorum' devrimi" (http://www.radikal.com.tr/kultur/inonude_yorum_devrimi-1002451).
Radikal. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
9. "Grup Yorum 3. Bağımsız Türkiye Konseri 14 Nisan'da" (http://sanat.milliyet.com.tr/grup-yorum
-3-bagimsiz-turkiye-konseri-14-nisan-da/muzik/haberdetay/12.04.2013/1692746/default.htm).
Milliyet. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
10. "Grup Yorum'dan yeni albüm" (https://odatv.com/grup-yorumdan-yeni-album-
2309171200.html). odatv.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
11. Wright, Bryony (4 April 2018). "Grup Yorum: the jailed band Turkey can't silence" (https://www.t
heguardian.com/music/2018/apr/04/grup-yorum-the-jailed-band-turkey-cant-silence). The
Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved
28 November 2019.
12. "F tipi film (2012)" (https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/5112e53f01863). BFI. Retrieved
22 November 2019.
13. "Music band releases film on Turkish F-type prisons" (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/music-
band-releases-film-on-turkish-f-type-prisons-32734). Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved
22 November 2019.
14. "Left-wing band Grup Yorum members jailed" (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/left-wing-band
-grup-yorum-members-jailed-39398). Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
15. "Left-wing folk band Grup Yorum attracts tens of thousands to public Istanbul concert" (http://w
ww.hurriyetdailynews.com/left-wing-folk-band-grup-yorum-attracts-tens-of-thousands-to-public-
istanbul-concert-44920). Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
16. "Wenn deutsche Geopolitik mit Menschenrechtspolitik verwechselt wird" (http://peter-nowak-jo
urnalist.de/tag/grup-yorum-zerschlagene-instrumente/). peter-nowak-journalist.de. Retrieved
9 April 2020.
17. "Angst setzt Kräfte frei" (https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/kreative-szene-in-der-tuerkei-angst
-setzt-kraefte-frei/19178436.html). tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
18. SCF (1 March 2017). "Members of Grup Yorum and fashion designer Şansal released" (https://
stockholmcf.org/members-of-grup-yorum-and-fashion-designer-sansal-released/). Stockholm
Center for Freedom. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
19. TurkeyPurge. "Folk band Grup Yorum members in 'wanted terrorists' list | Turkey Purge" (http
s://turkeypurge.com/folk-band-grup-yorum-members-wanted-terrorists-list). Retrieved
22 November 2019.
20. "Euronews: Grup Yorum Band Members Seek Asylum in France" (http://bianet.org/english/prin
t/199191-euronews-grup-yorum-band-members-seek-asylum-in-france). Bianet. Retrieved
6 April 2020.
21. "Indictment Against Death Fasting Grup Yorum Member Gökçek" (https://bianet.org/english/la
w/219039-indictment-against-death-fasting-grup-yorum-member-gokcek). Bianet. Retrieved
6 April 2020.
22. "Death Fasting Grup Yorum Member Helin Bölek Loses Her Life" (http://bianet.org/english/hum
an-rights/222419-death-fasting-grup-yorum-member-helin-bolek-loses-her-life). bianet.org.
Retrieved 9 May 2020.
23. "2 of 10 Arrested Grup Yorum Band Members Released" (http://m.bianet.org/english/law/2046
89-2-of-10-arrested-grup-yorum-band-members-released). Bianet. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
24. "Repressionen gegen Grup Yorum" (https://taz.de/Repressionen-gegen-Grup-Yorum/!568305
1/). taz.de. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
25. Erk Acarer. "Repressionen gegen Grup Yorum: Ein Konzert als Terrorpropaganda - taz.de" (htt
ps://taz.de/Repressionen-gegen-Grup-Yorum/!5645272/). taz.de (in German). Retrieved 5 April
2020.
26. BONN, GA. "Verdacht auf Propaganda: Polizei verbietet Konzert in Köln" (https://www.general-
anzeiger-bonn.de/region/koeln-und-rheinland/koeln-polizei-verbietet-konzert-der-band-grup-yo
rum_aid-47390985). GA BONN (in German). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
27. "Freemuse and P24 concerned about reports of Grup Yorum's members force-feeding" (https://
freemuse.org/news/freemuse-calls-for-the-turkish-authorities-to-release-detained-members-of-
grup-yorum-freemuse/). Freemuse. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
28. "Political musician on death fast to be released from prison" (https://anfenglish.com/culture/poli
tical-musician-on-death-fast-to-be-released-from-prison-41847). ANF News. Retrieved 4 April
2020.
29. "Member of banned Turkish folk group dies after hunger strike" (https://www.theguardian.com/
world/2020/apr/03/banned-turkish-folk-group-member-dies-following-hunger-strike). the
Guardian. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
30. "Death Fasting Grup Yorum Members Bölek, Gökçek Hospitalized with a Police Raid" (https://b
ianet.org/english/human-rights/221223-death-fasting-grup-yorum-members-bolek-gokcek-hosp
italized-with-a-police-raid). Bianet. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
31. "Member of Turkish Band Dies on 288th Day of Hunger Strike" (https://www.nytimes.com/apon
line/2020/04/03/world/europe/ap-eu-turkey-hunger-strike.html). The New York Times. 3 April
2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
32. "Grup Yorum üyesi Helin Bölek hayatını kaybetti" (https://web.archive.org/web/2020040517512
8/https://www.sozcu.com.tr/hayatim/kultur-sanat-haberleri/grup-yorum-uyesi-helin-bolek-hayati
ni-kaybetti/). www.sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original (https://www.sozcu.co
m.tr/hayatim/kultur-sanat-haberleri/grup-yorum-uyesi-helin-bolek-hayatini-kaybetti/) on 5 April
2020.
33. "Ölüm orucunda olan Grup Yorum üyesi Helin Bölek yaşamını yitirdi" (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20200405175151/http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/olum-orucunda-olan-grup-yorum-uye
si-helin-bolek-yasamini-yitirdi-1731037). www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the
original (http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/olum-orucunda-olan-grup-yorum-uyesi-helin-bolek
-yasamini-yitirdi-1731037) on 5 April 2020.
34. "Grup Yorum member İbrahim Gökçek dies two days after ending death fast" (https://www.duv
arenglish.com/human-rights/2020/05/07/grup-yorum-member-ibrahim-gokcek-dies-two-days-af
ter-ending-death-fast/). www.duvarenglish.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
35. "Lonely death of Grup Yorum bassist highlights Turkey hunger strikes" (https://amp.theguardia
n.com/world/2020/may/08/lonely-death-of-grup-yorum-bassist-highlights-turkey-hunger-
strikes). amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
36. "Grup Yorum üyesi İbrahim Gökçek defnedildi" (https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2020/
05/08/ibrahim-gokcek-icin-yuruyuse-polis-engeli/). https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr. Retrieved
10 May 2020. External link in |website= (help)
37. "Grup Yorum on Apple Music" (https://music.apple.com/us/artist/grup-yorum/210385971#see-a
ll/full-albums). Apple Music. Retrieved 8 April 2020.

Further reading
Kahyaoğlu, Orhan. Grup Yorum: 25 Yıl Hiç Durmadan. CanGeçlik, 2010 (Softcover).
ISBN 975-07-1224-2
Kahyaoğlu, Orhan. And Dağları'ndan Anadolu'ya 'Devrimci Müzik' Geleneği ve "Sıyrılıp gelen"
Grup Yorum. neKitaplar, 2003 (Softcover). ISBN 975-283-000-5

External links
Grup Yorum (https://www.facebook.com/grupyorum1985) on Facebook
Grup Yorum (https://www.discogs.com/artist/Grup+Yorum) discography at Discogs

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