Kurdish artist Rojda, who is going to attend a meeting on the "Kurdish initiative" by invitation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was arrested in Istanbul on Tuesday night (9 February).

Journalist Uygar Gültekin informed bianet that Rojda was taken to the Istanbul Courthouse on the grounds of alleged "propaganda for an illegal organization". The allegations are based on the Kurdish song "Heval Kamuran" the artist performed at a festival in Diyarbakır in the predominantly Kurdish south-eastern part of Turkey last year. Rojda's statement was taken at the Courthouse on Thursday (11 February). The Diyarbakır Public Prosecution has filed a lawsuit against the artist.

Rojda, one of the artists of the Mesopotamia Culture Centre, was arrested at her home in the Gaziosmanpaşa Karayolları quarter of Istanbul on the evening of 9 February. She was kept at the Istanbul Police Directorate and later on taken to the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court. There she gave her statement in the presence of her lawyer Hüseyin Çalışçı.

In an announcement Rojda made after she had given her statement, the artist said: "There are trials pending in Diyarbakır related to the songs I performed. We appear to be potentially guilty unless some laws are going to be amended. I will give my statements at all the trials. This time I was arrested because I did not receive a notification from court. I was not interrogated at the police station. I just made a short statement to the court".

Prime Minister Erdoğan is going to meet about 160 artists to discuss the Kurdish initiative. The talks will start on 20 February and are divided into three sessions. Invitations were issued inter alia to musicians Sezen Aksu, Ajda Pekkan, İbrahim Tatlıses, Emel Sayın and Orhan Gencebay, director Yılmaz Erdoğan, author and Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk and author Yaşar Kemal. (BÇ/VK)

* Photo: Uygar Gültekin (DİHA)