ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Turkish court in Diyarbakir (Amed) province Thursday sentenced Kurdish singer, Azad Bedran, to three years and nine months in prison for his songs and concerts, which they deem “propaganda for a terrorist organization.” A resident of Diyarbakir city, Bedran released a music video in late 2016 for his rendition of the song, Partizan (Partisan), covering Kurdish singer Hozan Dilgash’s hit dating back 25 years. Part of the song goes, “partisans are crowns, heroes and revolutionaries ... They are the lions of plains and canyons and attack the enemy. They hit and clear the country from the dirt.” Bedran, 27, told Rudaw English on Friday that he had been granted permission to release the song by Turkey’s ministry of culture prior to its release. However, following the July 2016 failed coup and Turkey’s subsequent crackdown on dissidents, the singer says his music was later caught up within the framework of this backlash. The government filed a complaint against the song on YouTube which removed it after three months of uploading in 2016, according to Bedran. However, another version of the song is still available on the platform. “The case was launched three years ago [because of] the song Partizan. They sentenced me to three years and nine months but the Appellate Court dissolved the case. However, a Diyarbakir court [which launched the case] appealed the [Appellate Court’s] ruling and sentenced me again [on Thursday],” he said. In addition to this song, Bedran has been charged with “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” for his concerts and social media posts, a charge commonly in reference to a defendant's alleged affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), reported the Turkish news outlet Gazete Duvar. Another song that Bedran commonly sings during concerts is Zindan (Prison), which goes, “my hands and feet have been tied with the chain of memory. I have been directed to prison for the sake of Kurdistan.” The usage of the word “Kurdistan” is banned in Turkey, despite being occasionally used by top officials like President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I believe that this is not against me, but [against] all Kurds, because they want to exterminate Kurdish culture, and they do not want the improvement of the Kurdish language,” Bedran told Rudaw English. He said that he has not been arrested yet, and his lawyers are seeking to appeal the ruling. This is not the first time Kurdish singers have been sentenced or arrested on terror-related charges for their music. Almost one year ago, prominent Kurdish singer, Hozan Cane, was formally arrested for similar charges and has yet to be released.
