Folk musician Pınar Aydınlar was detained after performing on stage with a poster of Seyid Rıza during her concert yesterday as part of the “Tunceli Cultural Gatherings” program organized by İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into Aydınlar and the event organizers on allegations of “praising a crime and a criminal,” as per article 215 of the Turkish Penal Code, which could lead to a prison sentence of up to two years.
During her performance, Aydınlar expressed admiration for Seyid Rıza, saying, “I bow with respect a thousand times before the memory of Seyid Rıza, who said, ‘I did not bow to you,’ and before the memory of those we have lost. While we cannot even visit the grave of our leader or know its location, we say again to those destroying the nature of Dersim: ‘We are the grandchildren of Seyid Rıza. We are here.’”
In an Instagram post with an excerpt from the concert, Aydınlar wrote, “We are the grandchildren of Seyid Rıza.”
“For us, it’s Dersim, not Tunceli,” she wrote, expressing her rejection of the city’s official name, a stance widely adopted in the region.
Following the event, Aydınlar announced on her social media account that she had been taken into custody.
Seyid Rıza, an Alevi Zaza-Kurdish leader and religious figure, was executed on Nov 15, 1937, for leading a rebellion in the Dersim region during the early years of the republic.
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Source: BIANET
