Turkey’s Unity Trade Union, which was established after a resolution adopted at the 13th Congress of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) that was held in August 2020, made a statement regarding musician deaths that happened during the pandemic.
Unity Trade Union emphasized in the statement that music industry labourers are not alone in the darkness while calling them to struggle altogether.
The full statement is as follows:
We will not surrender to the darkness
“Our musician friend, Erdem Topuz, put an end to his life and unfortunately, it isn’t the first time. Erdem was one of the thousands of music laborers who tried to survive in the industry that almost stopped during the pandemic.
While there are talks about aids and supports, this suicide shows the difficult situation of the music laborers.
Musicians cannot earn a living for themselves.
It wasn’t going well before the pandemic, too. Lack of insurance, daywork... The struggle to earn a living was always there for the musicians.
With the pandemic, all of the problems rose to the surface. So-called aids from the state to the musicians were unable to go beyond the minimum limits.
Music laborers ask; how many musicians more we have to lose for you to see us?
This is our call to music laborers who were unemployed with restrictions, who feel like they are alone. Join us, and let’s fight together. You are not alone; we are not alone! We will light up this darkness with solidarity.
Board of Management of Unity Trade Union”
