Tunes for Peace

Ezgi Atabilen
 
The Academics for Peace who were first suspended and then expelled for signing the declaration headed ‘We will not be party to this crime’ have formed a music group in Eskişehir. Its name is ‘Tunes for Peace’. They are both organising ‘Solidarity Lessons’ which they say are the first steps towards the university of their dreams and are performing songs in various languages at their command to the accompaniment of a great many instruments. They are going nowhere, are not giving up, are remaining productive and, at the same time, are raising the voice of peace through the power of music, which they perceive as being a therapeutic means. This interview I held with group members Murat Yıkılmaz, Ozan Devrim Yay, Sultan Zengin and Osman Şişman comes with their note for prospective readers: ‘We need an acoustic guitar case. We are also open to support in the way of instruments.’
-When was Tunes for Peace formed?
Murat Yıkılmaz: In April 2016, we visited Silivri where the detained academics Kıvanç Ersoy and Muzaffer Kaya are being held. With about twenty people from Eskişehir going to visit them, Ozan came up with the idea, ‘Let’s sing a song they like.’ We practiced in the minibus with an accordion and a guitar. We staged a small performance in a group of about twenty in front of Silivri. But the group was formed after we had been suspended. That is, last October.
-Are all the group’s members academics for peace?
Murat Yıkılmaz: We are currently eleven in number. Five of us are academics who signed and were expelled. We also have other colleagues who are giving their support as soloists.
 ‘Music makes us strong’
-Is making music a means of struggle for you?
Murat Yıkılmaz: We have been giving Solidarity Lessons here since May. In support of our colleagues who are undergoing intimidation and being interrogated and suspended. After we had been suspended, we thought we would enlarge this solidarity. I made the proposal, ‘Friends, there are those among us who play instruments, so, let’s make music.’ None of us is professional, mind you. We are all learning and developing as we play. Then, this thing we were doing earned a lot of affection. We see this as a form of resistance, giving a response and a reaction through art from people suffering intimidation. It keeps us together and makes us very happy. We are together here with everyone who is suffering intimidation. Music makes us strong.
‘We cannot even work at driving schools’
-What are you doing apart from music? This question is directed at those who have been dismissed from the academic world. How is life continuing?
Ozan Devrim Yay: The possibility of being included on research projects abroad disappeared along with the revoking of passports. There were certain scientific projects on which I was included over the process of the non-renewal of our contracts. I wanted to actively continue with this work with no material expectation. But, thanks to the great pressure applied by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and the university we were also taken off these projects. I am still at the research stage as to what I can do. Apart from that, we are all doing odd jobs that turn up like translation.
Murat Yıkılmaz: Some of our number are doing translation, bringing out magazines and running cafeterias. In common with all those who have been expelled, our work opportunities are limited. There is no chance of us finding work at private universities, private schools or even driving schools, because notification had been given everywhere that we cannot work. We are in a state of prohibition. Until now, there is nobody who has taken up any really serious activity, got things back on track and regained their former standard of living. Everyone is doing their best individually to hang in. Our union, the Education and Science Workers' Union, has a solidarity fund. We are keeping our heads above water thanks a bit to that, too.
‘Every signatory is under psychological arrest’
-You have given about ten concerts until now. Have you encountered no obstacles?
Ozan Devrim Yay: Two weeks ago, I spent two weeks under arrest on charges of terrorist organisation membership and propaganda. An indirect consequence of this was that we had to cancel one of our concerts. What we experience is not direct intimidation but the indirect consequences of this.
Murat Yıkılmaz: What we are aware of is that we are not physically under arrest but we are all, every signatory, constantly psychologically under arrest. We sense this. We also experienced this with Ozan’s example.
We will found the university of our dreams
-What are you planning from now on?
Murat Yıkılmaz: We are actually talking about more than 100,000 people. Some 500 academics have been expelled for being signatories. We are here. We are not going anywhere. We are going to put up every kind of legal fight to return to our jobs and regain our rights. While doing so, we are also going to reach out to even more people. We will also keep our demand for peace in the public eye through our music. The number of our Solidarity Lessons has reached 24 in one year. People from all disciplines have attended and we hosted them here. We are now going to expand this into the Eskişehir School. We have also given notice of this and everyone will muck in. In the autumn we will stage the Solidarity Lessons in Eskişehir as if this were the university of our dreams.
Ozan Devrim Yay: I may have been thrown out of my public-sector job, but I am still a member of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects. I also have the intention of bringing my academic experience to bear on chamber activities.