İbrahim Gökçek


İbrahim Gökçek was a musician of the Turkish revolutionary band Grup Yorum. He played the bass guitar. He died on 7 May 2020 after a 323-day hunger strike, which he had ended two days before. He was married to Sultan Gökçek, who is also a member of Grup Yorum and detained in Silivri Prison.
Gökçek was arrested on 1 May 2019 and charged with "establishing and leading an organisation" He joined the ongoing hunger strike of other Grup Yorum members in June 2019. The demands of the hunger strikers were that the Turkish government end the suppression of the group, release its members from prison, and allow them to give concerts. On 4 January 2020, he and Helin Bölek turned their hunger strike into a death fast. On 14 January 2020 the prosecution demanded a life sentence for Gökçek. In February 2020 he was released from prison, but he stayed on hunger strike together with Helin Bölek in a house in Küçükarmutlu, Istanbul. On 5 May 2020 he ended his hunger strike and was transferred to a hospital for treatment. He died on 7 May 2020.
The following day, mourners taking part in a ceremony in memory of Gökçek at an Alevi cemevi in the neighbourhood of Sultangazi were halted by the police and dispersed with teargas. The police broke down the gates to the cemevi, detained several members of Grup Yorum, seized the coffin containing Gökçek and brought his corpse to Kayseri, where he was buried.