Kurdish singer Hozan Cane has been imprisoned in Turkey for more than a year. Her daughter Gönül Dilan Örs was also jailed. A petition asks the federal government to act more decisively for the release of the two women from Cologne.
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. Her daughter Gönül Dilan Örs was also arrested in Turkey on 10 September 2019.
In contrast to other cases of arrest of German citizens in Turkey, the Federal Government behaves noticeably restrained in the case of Kurdish singer and her daughter.
A petition has been launched on the online platform change.org for Hozan Cane and Gönül Örs, in which German politicians are called upon to be more active in their efforts for the release of the two women.
The petition text reads as follows:
Dear Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
Dear Mrs. Angela Merkel,
Dear Mr. Heiko Maas,
Dear politicians of Germany,
Dear media!
German citizens Hozan Cane and Gönül Örs are in custody in Turkey. Singer Hozan Cane was sentenced to a six-year sentence for allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda. Recently, her daughter Gönül Örs, head of a socio-educational family care in Cologne, was also arrested. She is accused of having attempted to leave Turkey despite an exit ban. Both women have previously campaigned for the rights of Kurds.
Of course, there is the suspicion “that arrest and conviction are politically motivated,” said SPD parliamentary group spokesperson for human rights, Frank Schwabe.
Cane’s health has deteriorated during the last few months during detention.
“If they had given me 100 years in prison, but not imprisoned my daughter,” she said.
Her daughter Gönül Örs is accused of having been present at a protest in Cologne in 2012, in which a PKK-affiliated grouping is said to have participated. Because of this charge she was banned from leaving the country. Allegedly, she is said to have tried to cross the border and since then she has been in custody. Previously, she had tried in Germany to mobilize the public and politicians to ensure the release of her mother.
So far, politics has done very little for the two German citizens, although they would have to show responsibility for them. Cases like Deniz Yücel and Peter Steudtner have shown that pressure can help.
We, the signatories to this petition, are calling on politics, the media and the public to report more about Hozan Cane and Gönül Örs and to stand up for their release. There are many unjustly imprisoned people in Turkey who need to be freed and who are worth taking action for. Hozan Cane and Gönül Örs are two of them. They are German citizens and thus their case falls in the jurisdiction of German politicians such as Angela Merkel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Heiko Maas.
Dear media and politicians, please tell more about Gönül Örs and her mother Hozan Cane, and speak in favor of their release, respect for human rights and freedom of expression. Do not let the two German citizens down!
Let us put pressure until they are released!
Dear Hozan and Gönül, we do not forget you. Nobody forgets you. Hold on!