1 day ago
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Members of the Turkish and Kurdish community in the UK have accused the Turkish government of intimidating and interrogating them for holding arts and cultural events in London parks.
They claim that about 150 people who have participated in activities organised by Gik-Der – Refugee Workers’ Cultural Organisation have been detained by Turkish authorities when visiting Turkey and questioned about their involvement with the organisation.
They say they have been accused of having links to an illegal organisation.
Gik-Der, which was established 34 years ago and is a registered charity, strongly denies this and says it is a community organisation that works with the London boroughs of Enfield and Haringey to stage events including its park festival, an annual celebration of arts and culture.
It provides classes for children who need extra help with maths, English and science, and it received many commendations for helping people during the pandemic by delivering food and other essentials.
The charity believes that the UK-based individuals have been targeted after photos of them attending events were posted on Facebook and then “scraped”, with facial recognition technology used to identify them when they visited Turkey.
Gik-Der is preparing to file a legal action against the Turkish government, describing the investigations as “absurd”.
Mehmet Ovayolu, of Ovayolu Law Office in Istanbul, said: “The main purpose is to frighten people away from joining in with community organisations. We will defend our human rights, we will not kneel to these threats to open and legitimate activities.”
He said participating in the summer arts festival in north London could not be considered a crime and he described the allegations by the Turkish government as “baseless and unfounded”.
He is planning to file criminal complaints against Turkish authorities believed to be responsible for detaining and questioning the people from the UK.
Other Turkish and Kurdish groups in London have reported similar stories of some of their members who had posted photos of cultural activities on social media visiting Turkey and being interrogated about their involvement with these organisations.
One Alevi youth group had posted a photo of 20 people after a theatre practice in London, nearly all of whom were detained one by one when they later visited Turkey. The Kurdish Community Centre reported similar experiences.
Those targeted have been taken into rooms and questioned about who the organisers of the London-based organisations are, their roles and the activities they are involved with. They have been released after questioning.
Several Turkish and Kurdish organisations held an emergency meeting on 29 May to raise their concerns about what they say is surveillance and intimidation by the Turkish government.
In a statement, Gik-Der said: “Over the past two years, approximately 150 people have been detained and questioned due to their involvement with our organisation. We have received a list of more than 30 individuals currently being targeted simply for attending our annual culture and arts festival.”
The charity has committed to a public campaign in defence of human rights, saying “we are not scared”. It said: “We need to imagine a country where singing songs is not a crime”.
Foreign Office sources said officials consistently underlined the importance of treating all civilians with fairness and respect when engaging with regional and international partners.
The Turkish embassy has been approached for comment.
