Elif Şafak calls for release of Kurdish singer Nûdem Durak
Novelist Elif Şafak calls for the release of Kurdish singer Nûdem Durak, who has been behind bars for eight years. “How can singing be a crime? How can expressing yourself in your mother tongue be a crime?” she said.
News Center- Kurdish singer Nûdem Durak was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” for singing Kurdish songs. Despite many calls for her release, she has been behind bars since April 25, 2017. Another call came from novelist Elif Şafak.
‘Release her’
Novelist Elif Şafak posted one of the songs sung by Nûdem Durak on her Instagram account and demanded her release.
Elif Şafak also wrote, “Literature is the art of tracing stories as well as those who remain silent. It is for those whose voices are unheard, those who are hurt, those who are marginalized, and those whose fundamental and universal human rights are ruthlessly taken away… Nûdem Durak a very talented singer, a young woman who fights against difficulties. She was sentenced to 19 years in prison for singing Kurdish songs. How can singing be a crime? How can expressing yourself in your mother tongue be a crime? I hope this injustice ends, and she regains her freedom…”