Turkish authorities have blocked access to 454 videos of the folk protest band Grup Yorum on YouTube, citing national security and public order concerns, according to the digital rights group EngelliWeb.
The videos, shared across 56 different channels and viewed more than 2 million times, were made unavailable to users in Turkey under Turkey’s Internet Law. Grup Yorum’s official YouTube channel is also inaccessible in the country.
Grup Yorum'un, 2006-2024 yılları arasında YouTube'da yayınlanan ve toplamda 205 milyon kez izlenen en az 454 videosu, millî güvenlik ve kamu düzeninin korunması gerekçesiyle erişime engellendi ve YouTube tarafından Türkiye'den görünmez kılındı. https://t.co/9YkNgyvuOr pic.twitter.com/iaUJSXwonu
— EngelliWeb (@engelliweb) May 29, 2025
Grup Yorum, known for its politically charged lyrics and criticism of the Turkish government, has long been the target of censorship. The government has banned its concerts since 2016, and band members have faced repeated detentions.
The government accuses the group of links to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
The court order to block the videos was based on a provision of Turkish law that allows content removal or access bans for content deemed threatening to national security or public order.
Hunger strikes and crackdown
The musicians in Grup Yorum, which was founded in İstanbul in 1985, have changed over the years. It became internationally known not only for its music but also for the members’ high-profile hunger strikes.
Two members, Helin Bölek and İbrahim Gökçek, died in 2020 after lengthy hunger strikes intended to pressure the government to lift the concert ban, release jailed members and drop legal proceedings against the group. Bölek died in April 2020; Gökçek died in May after 322 days without food. Both had continued their protests after being released from prison.
Hunger strikers in Turkey traditionally refuse food but consume liquids and take vitamins that prolong their protests.
Censorship and pressure on artists
The Turkish government’s crackdown on Grup Yorum has extended beyond concert bans. The group’s cultural center has repeatedly been raided by police, and several members remain imprisoned.
The latest video bans come amid broader concerns about freedom of expression and internet censorship in Turkey. Rights groups have frequently criticized the government for using national security laws to silence dissent and remove politically sensitive content from online platforms.
Turkey was ranked the lowest-scoring country in Europe for online freedoms, according to a report from the Washington-based Freedom House last October. Turkey has a score of 31 in a 100-point index, with scores based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free) and is listed as “not free.”
Grup Yorum has not yet issued a public statement about the YouTube takedowns.