When the police dispersed the demonstrators in Piazza Saraçhane, Professor Aslı Tunç took the subway in the hope of leaving that great mess behind. On the dock, a man was quiet behind a spare carrier. From a small speaker, the notes of a song came out: “Padişahı Yine DevireMedik, ABI / Kuzular çok Cahil / Kurtlar şeytani” (“We have not yet been able to overturn the sultan, friend / lambs are too ignorant / wolves are demonic”). «I have come the goosebumps. I thought: here, Kufi It is the soundtrack of the protest ».
Kufi It is not a hymn, nor a manifesto of any kind. It is only a song full of repetitions and with a nonsense text, one of the many who leave the speakers of the banquets of the street vendors of Istanbul. Except that its meaning has changed due to the protest in Türkiye, where humor and art are among the few ways to face the situation.
On March 19, the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İMamoğlu was stopped and four days later he was formally arrested. A wave of protests shook the country. İMamoğlu had already been sentenced for insulting public officials in 2019. Since then the authorities have accused him of corruption and of having links with organized crime. The investigations are underway, but for public opinion the accusations are smoky. The arrest of watchmaking, coinciding with the announcement scheduled for the same day as the candidacy for President, led many to think of a political attack on the main democratic opposition party, the CHP. People took to the street and from the speakers started to go out words like “Elleri Havada, Kufi Kafada” (“Hands at the top, Kufi on the head”).
The first song that the Turkish rock group Duman published after more than ten years of silence, Kufi The soundtrack of the movement has unexpectedly became. It is sung in the events, spread by the Metro speakers, shared online by millions of people. On Spotify more than 65 million times, two has been listened to Lyrics Video On YouTube they scored over 50 million views and has been included in more than 43 thousand videos by Tiktok and Reel of Instagram.
The song is not the only surprise born during protests. One of the most recognizable figures has become that of Pikachu. Hasan Taşkan's videos, a twenty -one year old dressed as the famous Pokémon character, are shot on social media and beyond. He did not hold any sign, did not intone choirs. He simply moved, sometimes he ran among the demonstrators. “I didn't do it for a precise reason or by protest,” explains Taşkan. “There was a lot of tension in the air. I chose Pikachu to lighten the atmosphere and add a little color. It was a costume that I put to entertain the children ».
He did not expect to become a symbol, but when his videos started shooting, people were hit. “There are thousands of people who told me that I made them smile and this thing made me happy.” There are those who took the road to Pikachu's costume on the street, transforming their gesture into an unexpected trend linked to protests. Others, Taşkan observes, have been less generous. He is keen to clarify that his gesture is apolitical: “I love my country, my nation and my police”.
If the Taşkan costume has captured attention because in the context of the events it has something surreal, others have protested in more personal and creative ways. BG, a Turkish student from Columbia University in New York, was visiting Istanbul and Ankara when the protest broke out. He witnessed events in both cities. “People paraded en masse and sang. I had never heard so much tension “(BG asked to keep anonymity for fear of potential repercussions). The more the protests spread and the more you feel Kufi. “It was released on 13 December 2024, but it became popular thanks to the events.”
Protagonists of the Turkish alternative rock alternative scene in the late 90s, the Dumans became famous thanks to records influenced by the grunge in which they mix melancholy vein and protest echoes. Theirs Eyvallah It has become one of the hymns of the 2013 Gezi Park events. They did not want to be interviewed for this article: they are convinced that their music expresses a clear and definitive way they mean. Each support is for BG significant. «It's nice to see musicians who don't fear being associated with protests. Some are afraid and others who speak openly end up in the job ».
Although Kufi It is not a political piece, his message had great echo. «It is like a code, a form of symbolism. It has also become popular for this, although some parts of the text have been criticized ». For some it is in fact too surreal and leaves too much room for interpretation. BG recalls having seen a video on Tiktok in which Duman singer jokes during a concert: «He said people continued to ask him when he would end up in jail. And he laughed it. By now we don't know if laughing or crying ».
According to BG, music has become a succession of other forms of protest. «The songs offer people a sense of belonging, strengthen unity. The fact that dissent can be expressed, at least in some form, reminds us that a space of expression still exists. Even if it is slippery soil ».
The clutch between visibility and risk is an aspect that Aslı Tunç has analyzed during his career. Professor at the University of Istanbul Bilgi, he is an expert in average, culture of protest and freedom of expression. For her, the Turkish society is experiencing a cultural turning point that will leave a lasting sign. “Every moment of resistance finds its soundtrack,” he says, doing as an example Hello beautiful for Italy. “Kufi It is becoming one of those songs, you can no longer go back. Whenever we hear it, we will remember these days ».
He plays the reappearance of the Duman in recent months, after more than ten years of silence, as a deliberate choice. “They have always transmitted a protest energy, but calm. Now they are back with direct, absurd, ironic and, at this moment, brave texts ».
A cryptic text (“Hands at the top, Kufi on the head”) has become something more. Not a slogan, nor a newspaper. Only a few words entered the playlists, in protest songs, in school courtyards, on social networks. Sing not because innocue, but because they expressed what could not be said in words. And for many this was very important. According to Tunç, they are the rhythm and repetition that the piece remains impressed in the head. «That mechanical and urban loop captures the immobility of political life of here. And then he turns it into resistance ».
From Rolling Stone Us.
