Turkey
Mark Ruffalo (left). Photo: AFP; Nudem Durak (right). Photo: Free Nudem Durak/Twitter. Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three-time Oscar nominated actor Mark Ruffalo released a tweet on Thursday advocating for the release of Nudem Durak, a Kurdish singer who’s been locked up in Turkish prison since 2015.
Thirty-three year old Durak has been serving a 19-year-sentence in a Bayburt prison in northeast Turkey for the past 7 years, on the grounds of singing songs in Kurdish. The young musician has reportedly been diagnosed with multiple serious diseases in prison, including Graves' disease, which Durak worries might permanently damage her vocal cords.
Ruffalo, a respected Hollywood actor mainly known to the mainstream audience for his portrayal of Dr. Bruce Banner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, tweeted a video showing Durak dancing and singing in Kurdish days before her arrest.
This beautiful, kindly, gifted human being is being kept in a Turkish prison. Her Crime? Song. She sings the folk songs of her Kurdish people. Please Help and RT. #FreeNudemDurak https://t.co/hpvPCehi6d
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) March 17, 2022
“This beautiful, kindly, gifted human being is being kept in a Turkish prison,” read Ruffalo’s tweet, adding that her only crime was singing “the folk songs of her Kurdish people.”
The actor campaigned for the release of Durak, urging his 7.9 million followers to help spread the message and “#FreeNudemDurak”
"She did nothing other than singing. She was arrested for singing in Kurdish ... I haven't seen my daughter for two years. People from my family went to visit her but were not allowed to do so," mourned Durak’s mother in an interview.
Ruffalo joins a list of illustrious celebrities who have championed for the release of Durak in the past few years. Linguist Noam Chomsky, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, and political activist Angela Davis, are just some of the names on that list.
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