800 peace artists give full support to Turkey’s

800 peace artists give full support to Turkey’s
Tuesday, December 1, 2009

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Hundreds of artists are providing their full support to Turkey’s initiatives. Some 800 artists from various disciplines have gathered to present a message of friendship and peace to the public, forming the ‘Peace Artists International Art Movement’ via Facebook

Musician Feryal Öner, left, and designer Ragıp İncesarı are members of the Peace Artists International Art Movement.

Turkey has been taking important steps in domestic and foreign politics in the past year, and issues that were regarded as taboo only a few years ago are now being discussed increasingly openly.

Turks and Armenians, who were separated by an unseen iron curtain as the result of the incidents that took place in 1915, have entered a new phase thanks to the “football diplomacy” that began in September 2008.

Even though the closed border between the two countries has not yet been opened, people have already started connecting in the social and cultural fields.

Turkey has recently taken determined steps to solve the Kurdish problem, which has dragged on since the 1980s. Much of the public is still confused about the developments and is clearly unsure as to what the initiative means.

Intellectuals, however, have largely supported the initiative even though they occasionally criticize the government’s handling of the opening.

The Peace Artists International Art Movement is one of the best examples of this intellectual support. The movement, which brings together 800 artists from various disciplines via Facebook, is determined to express the brotherhood of people regardless of ethnic identity in Turkey. The group aims to support each step Turkey takes toward peace.

Reaction against Kurdish songs

Designer Ragıp İncesarı; musician Feryal Öner, a member of the band Kardeş Türküler; and musician Servet Kocakaya spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review as representatives of the Peace Artists.

Kocakaya is a Kurdish musician. His first album “Keke” – Kurdish for “brother” – became a hot topic and generated debate when it was released in 1999. In the same year, the late Ahmet Kaya, a well-known Kurdish musician, became the target of attacks because of his comments at an award ceremony: “I will sing a Kurdish song on my album to be released in the coming days. I will also make a video for the song.”

Touching on the recent Kurdish initiative, Kocakaya said: “When I said I felt both Turkish and Kurdish only a few years ago, they tried to lynch me. We are at this point because politics is carried out over identities in this country. We need to make the initiative not in the political arena but on the street.”

Veto for Kurdish, Armenian on television

In addition to Kocakaya, Kardeş Türküler (Songs of Fraternity), a band that strives to reflect Turkey’s diverse ethnic make-up, has had similar difficulties with its music.

“Television channels that invited us to their program didn’t let us sing Kurdish and Armenian songs,” said band member Öner. “My generation grew up hearing that this country belongs to Turks only. Other ethnic identities have been ignored. … We will fight for ourselves,” she said, adding that though some say the initiatives have succeeded in reaching their goals, this has not been necessarily true in reality.

Call from Peace Artists

“History books taught us that we were surrounded by enemies from all sides,” said İncesarı. “We were told that we defeated the Greeks, that the Armenians stabbed us in the back, and that the Kurds and Arabs betrayed us. I am against the discourse of official history and say that friends surround us on all sides. We will demonstrate this to the Turkish people through films, exhibitions, documentaries and concerts.”

On the Kurdish issue, İncesarı said the real guilt was history on our shoulders. “In 1923, there was a plan to form an assembly including Turkish and Kurdish deputies. But because of the nation-state perception, the plan was abandoned. Otherwise, the Kurdish problem would never have existed.”

İncesarı also invited any interested foreign artists to also participate in the Peace Artists: “Our doors are open to all artists who believe in peace and friendship.”