Kurdish musician Nudem Durak, who is jailed in Bayburt M Type Closed Prison, was arrested in 2015 because of her songs in Kurdish and sentenced to 19 years in prison from two separate files on the charge of "being a member of a (terrorist) organization". About 50  internationally known personalities called for Durak’s release from prison.

For Durak, who was a vocalist in the band Koma Sorxwin.

Kurdish musician Nûdem Durak was arrested in Turkey in 2015 and sentenced to 19 years imprisonment. Her only crime was to sing songs in Kurdish, her native language.

Dozens of directors, writers and musicians, including Aslı Erdoğan, Pınar Selek and Ece Temelkuran from Turkey, signed a petition demanding the release of Durak.

The petition said that Durak was not a member of any organization, but she was sentenced to prison by 2034 because of her ideas and musician identity. It noted that Durak was arrested based on the statements of witnesses.

The signatories of the petition are as follows:

Bryan Adams, musician, Canada,

Tunde Adebimpe, musician, USA

Joseph Andras, writer, France

Ramin Bahrani, film director, Iran/USA

Saleh Bakri, actor, Palestine

Jeanne Balibar, actor, France

Frank Barat, writer, Belgium

Juliette Binoche, actress, France

Rachida Brakni, actress, France

Breyten Breytenbach, writer

Eric Cantona, former footballer, France

Carmen Castillo, film director, Chile

Isabel Coixet, film director, Spain

Molly Crabapple, artist, USA

Erri De Luca, writer, Italy

Sara Driver, film director, USA

Brian Eno, musician, UK

Aslı Erdoğan, author, Turkey

Annie Ernaux, author, UK

Peter Gabriel, musician, UK

Anouk Grinberg, actor, France

Robert Guédiguian, film director, France

Annemarie Jacir, film director, Palestine

Nicolas Jaar, musician

Jim Jarmusch, film director, USA

Aki Kaurismaki, film director, Finland

Talib Kweli, musician, USA

Paul Laverty, screenwriter, UK

Ken Loach, film director, UK

Miriam Margolyes, actor, UK

Emel Mathlouthi, musician, Tunisia

Sepideh Moafi, actor, USA

Thurston Moore, musician, USA

Tom Morello, musician, USA

PEN Afrikaans, South Africa

Charlie Reid, musician, UK

Arundhati Roy, author, India

Mark Ruffalo, actor, USA

Pınar Selek, author, Turkey

Shumona Sinha, author, India/France

Ahdaf Soueif, author, Egypt

Serj Tankian, musician, USA

Ece Temelkuran, author, Turkey

Ana Tijoux, musician, Chile

Éric Vuillard, author, France

Alice Walker, author, USA