Kurdish-German singer crisis in Ankara-Berlin relations

The singer has been found guilty of membership of the PKK and sentenced to six years, three months in prison.

German-Kurdish singer Hozan Cane (Saide Inaç),  was detained in Edirne in June 2018 when she was taking part to some electoral events for the HDP.

The singer has been found guilty of membership of the PKK and sentenced to six years, three months in prison.

She was acquitted on two further counts of incitement and insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. 

In all, she faced up to 13 years behind bars. Inaç, whose trial began on September 26, followed court proceedings via video link from the Bakirköy Women’s Prison in Istanbul. Her attorney, Nevruz Akalın, said the verdict would be appealed.

The singer, a German citizen, had written to Chancellor Angela Merkel asking her to raise the issue of her detention with president Erdogan. 

German foreign Minister undersecretary Michelle Müntefering, told ANF that the German consulate in Istanbul has visited Ozan Cane seven times.

“The Federal Government has raised the issue of releasing German Citizen Inaç many times during the political negotiations with Turkish interlocutors. The Federal Government's request was to release the citizen for humanitarian reasons. However, the Turkish side rejected our request by stating that the Turkish judiciary was independent.”

Background

The singer was arrested in Edirne in June 2018 after she had participated at a campaign event for the HDP ahead of national elections. Prosecutors focused on some of Inaç’s Facebook posts and used them in their indictment. 

İnaç’s family said the photos in the posts were taken during the filming of a movie about ISIS atrocities committed against the Yazidi people. 

German Die Linke deputy Sevim Dağdelen called İnaç’s trial “a political farce.” She says it simply shows that “Turkey is not a country of laws but rather a despotic regime.”