TURKEY, — Kurdish musician, Seyithan Karataş was sentenced to nine and half years on the allegation of membership in “illegal organisation”, for singing a song that contains two words of ‘Kurdish’ and ‘Kurdistan’
Mr. Karataş performed in a concert during election gathering in Karayazi on June 2, 2011, in which he is accused of making propaganda for an “illegal organization”, referring to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The court found Karataş guilty on the grounds that two songs he sang included the words ‘Kurdish’ and ‘Kurdistan.’
Mr. Karataş pointed out that the ruling was unjust for the two words -evidence of crime- were pronounced every day on the state-run Kurdish television channel TRT6.