Mother Günay Akkaya from Etten-Leur continues to live in uncertainty. She got up on Wednesday morning hoping that the judge would finally acquit her daughter Bergün in Turkey, but the verdict has already been postponed. A ‘musical trip’ by her daughters had a dark ending because they were linked to terrorism.
Günay had prepared himself for anything to happen on Wednesday, the day of the verdict. She is not surprised that the verdict has been postponed until June 3. “This is not a surprise to me,” she said Wednesday evening.
Nightmare in 2016
What once started as a musical dream became a nightmare. Flute player Betül Varan went to Turkey in 2016 to perform with Grup Yorum, a protest band that is a thorn in the side of the Turkish government.
A year later, her younger sister Bergün comes to visit Istanbul. She has only been there for three days when the police raid the cultural center of the protest band. The two sisters are arrested and linked to terrorism. They ended up in prison all the time.
Six prisoners, including Bergün, appeared in court. Mother Günay says a member of the music group started singing a song in the courtroom. “He had made that song new. When he wanted to sing it, all the members were violently thrown out of the room,” she says. “Then it was said that the case was postponed. Without any reason. The lawyers could not make a defense.”
Although the postponement does not come as a surprise, she was hoping for an acquittal when she woke up this morning. “I was curious and nervous. I never know what’s going to happen.”
Her daughter’s case has been postponed several times before. According to her, the penny can still fall either way in June. “She has an empty file and went to prison for no reason. The judge is not independent,” she says. “It could be postponed again later. She could get a life sentence, but she could also be released.”
Call occasionally
Mother Günay continues to live between hope and fear until her daughters are free and can make music in freedom, she says. She occasionally calls her daughters. For example, she knows that Bertül has been on a hunger strike for a few days as a protest against what is happening there. “This time it is for an indefinite period.”
Betül was convicted on appeal for membership of a terrorist organization. She is being held in a prison just outside Istanbul until 2030. According to her lawyer, she was convicted on the basis of false testimony.
Protest band Grup Yorum
Grup Yorum was founded forty years ago. It’s an activist folk band. With their music they draw attention to injustice and oppression of, for example, the Kurds. They sing about ‘revolution’. The group has a large fan base and also regularly performs outside Turkey. Two years ago they were still in TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht.
