My son wants to live, death fasting Turkish musician's father says
Death fasting musician İbrahim Gökçek's father Ahmet Gökçek said that his son wants to live and urged people to raise their voices to save him. "İbrahim has been on a death fast for 315 days. His situation is critical. He is mentally very strong and has been resisting. He can also follow the current events and can talk to us. He was deeply shook when his friends died, but continues his struggle with resistance," he said.
Hacı Bişkin / DUVAR
The father of a musician who has been on a death fast for over 310 days said that his son wants to live, as he urged the public to raise their voices.
İbrahim Gökçek, a member of Grup Yorum, has been on a death fast with a number of demands, including the ban on their concerts to be lifted, the removal of the group's members' names from terror lists and the raids of İdil Culture Center, where the group carries out its works, to be stopped.
"My son wants to live. Raise your voices," his father Ahmet Gökçek told Duvar, adding that his son's situation is critical.
Another death fasting musician Helin Bölek died on the 288th day of her death fast in Istanbul's Sarıyer district on April 3. Mustafa Koçak, who was also on a death fast with the demand of a fair trial, died on April 24 on the 297th day of his fast.
Gökçek said that his son was deeply effected by the deaths of Bölek and Koçak.
"İbrahim has been on a death fast for 315 days. His situation is critical. He is mentally very strong and has been resisting. He can also follow the current events and can talk to us. He was deeply shook when his friends died, but continues his struggle with resistance," he said.
Gökçek also said that neither Bölek and Koçak, nor his son thought of killing themselves, but were left with no other option.
"He did nothing wrong. They were trying to perform the art of the people. However, the government brought them to these days via holding a grudge against them. They were put to terror lists for no reason. They wanted to struggle for this to be lifted, because they were left with no other choice. Helin, Mustafa and İbrahim didn't think of dying," Gökçek said.
"İbrahim wants to live. He wants to sing the songs of the people," he added.
Founded in 1985 as a reaction to the 1980 military coup and the subsequent military policies, Grup Yorum is known with its leftist stance and songs about political issues in Turkey. The group has always been vocal about human rights violations and freedoms in the country, prompting authorities to accuse them of being “members of terrorist groups” often.
Urging people to join his son in hunger for one day, Gökçek said that's how the people can understand what hunger means.
"Allowing someone to perform on stage is as significant as drinking water or breathing. Their demands are as reasonable as that," he said.
Meanwhile, two jailed lawyers from the People's Law Bureau have also been continuing their death fasts.
Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal went on a hunger strike on Feb. 5 and turned it into a death fast on April 5 with the demand of a fair trial.