As part of the political genocide operation against the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK), 54 people, including artists, journalists, and politicians, have been taken into custody. In response, members of the Art for Freedom Initiative issued a joint statement in Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara, denouncing the investigation and  wave of detentions.

The initiative members gathered in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara to read the joint statement issued simultaneously in the three cities. The statement said: "Those who have walked long roads in darkness, those who have often breathed anxiety instead of air, those whose right to exist and whose language have been stripped away, those who work themselves to death yet still cannot afford shelter or food, those who place their shame on the table in place of a meal for their children; poets who have memorized all the hidden meanings of oppression, filmmakers, journalists, and theater actors silenced for merely doing their job, writers standing vigil over banned books; those whose homes have been reduced to rubble, those who have spent a lifetime chasing a sliver of peace, you—those cast into the black hole of the system, those who have lived and died without ever seeing the light of day—they owe all of us a life.

We are now on a foggy road where the mere desire to live with dignity is treated as a crime. Every night, we go to sleep under a crime, and every morning, we wake up to another. We are in a place where demanding justice is a sin, and thinking differently is seen as heresy against the system. Countless people, too many to name, are imprisoned on charges that convince no one. Freedom of expression, democratic rights, equal citizenship, uncensored art, freedom of desire, even the simple demand for an ordinary day. These have all become the subjects of indictments by prosecutors. Everything we have ever dreamed of in life is now locked within the cage of a witch hunt, stretched across the country like barbed wire. They hang fear like curtains over windows, normalize violence to convince everyone that they are alone and powerless. But we say to them: we are not alone. One day, when the sun of truth rises, the accusations in your files will melt away like snow, and we will find the path to a new solidarity.

Even the winter suns have grown weary of you. We will rebuild the seasons with those whose voices will join ours. Let fear be carved into your hearts, for we will make films about these days, we will write plays about them. Let despair be recorded in the tyrant’s name, for we will write the poetry of an afternoon where no one commits hate crimes. We will cry out for all to hear what happens when the right to hope is violated. 

The grass is growing in the cracks of the pavement, a pure wind is rising from afar, untouched by your accusations. If we call, our friends will gather here. Together, we will stand before the walls you have built. If we call, they will come. We are calling, friends. Do not be late."