Selma and İnan Altın, two members of the infamous music collective Grup Yorum, have asked for asylum in France. The group, who have released twenty albums since 1987, have long been harassed by Turkish authorities who believe the musicians to be members of terrorist groups. Currently, 11 members of the band are incarcerated in Turkish prisons.
In an interview with Euronews the band’s drummer, İnan, explained that they were seeking refuge in France because of the constant oppression they have received from the Turkish authorities; the band has experienced raids onto them, their instruments broken and they’ve not been able to give proper concerts since 2016. Furthermore they describe the current setting in Turkey to be bleak as they inform the Euronews journalist that even street musicians are getting arrested.
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