Two members of Grup Yorum, a Turkish music band targeted by the Turkish government, on Saturday said they asked political asylum in France, Euronews reported.
Selma and İnan Altın announced their decision during a visit to the grave of Yılmaz Güney, a famous Turkish film director and actor who died in 1984 when he was in exile in France, in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
“We have never experienced the things that we have had in last two years. Grup Yorum has been facing a siege and liquidation operation,” said Selma Altın, a soloist of the band.
The couple is on the grey list of Turkey’s most wanted terrorists with award of around $60,000 with accusation of being member of far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).
Ten members of 33-year-old music band is in prison right now in Turkey. Six others, including the Altın couple have been at large. One member of the band was released from prison recently.
“Our concerts have been banned especially since 2016. The band could not even organize a concert,” said İnan Altın, the drummer of the band, adding that their cultural center has been raided by police who also destroyed the musical instruments.
Altın couple were released from prison in 2017 after 106 days of pre-trial detention.
“Not only Grup Yorum, but also all artists have been exposed to AKP [ruling Justice and Development Party] fascism,” added Selma Altın.
The couple also said their movie project was also stopped due to raid to their film set in Turkey, and they would try to complete the film project in France as Yılmaz Güney did in the past.
