Not Your Turkish Delight: Compilation Against Hate & Violence

I was excited about this Turkish compilation the moment when I first came across it. I can see that a lot of hard work and dedication went and still goes on into that amazing project!

Not Your Turkish Delight is the name of a compilation album and a series of music and other events focusing on gender equality within the Turkish society & alternative music scene. The compilation aims to bring together queer, trans and female-identified artists to take a stand against sexual violence and discrimination. All the profits from selling the compilation are donated to two specific shelters in Turkey—“Transevi” in Istanbul and “Yaşamevi” in Urfa.

The group of artists who made the compilation happen are eager to continue to show solidarity against the sexism, transphobia, homophobia and misogyny which have intensified in Turkey due to growing impunity of hate crime under Erdogan’s regime. The first 300 copies of the compilation that have been on sale at local gigs are already sold out, but you can still support the project on Bandcamp.

The 19 punk, riot grrrl, garage rock, etc. bands featured in Not Your Turkish Delight are all sending a strong message in solidarity with the struggle against patriarchy and hate crimes. The band The Hollow Dolly was born out of this compilation, Neon Jisatsu released their first song in the compilation. Jtamul, Bewitched As Dark, Soft Rains Of April, Reptilians From Andromeda and Cansu Turgut’s songs were recorded specifically for the compilation, while the other bands chose some of their already recorded tracks.

Some of these other bands include the amazing riot grrrl band Secondhand Underpants, Softa, Vae Victis, Crudez, and important Turkish punk-rock bands like Poster-iti and Tampon. In the case of Poster-iti, the band had started as a female-fronted ’77 punk / Oi! band but later on changed their style to raw, male-fronted hardcore punk. On this comp, they appear with a classic take on the Oi! sound.

Turkey has been largely overlooked when it comes to punk and underground music in general, but here we have a dedicated crew of passionate queers, trans and women who are smashing the patriarchy the most punk way possible. Let’s support the collective in their efforts and extend the network of solidarity globally!

“As every individual who tries to live and produce in this society, you come to the point of saying “Enough” rather easily, as you get smashed each time you take the road less traveled. The need to do something, the rage bottled up within and the cry for justice somehow directs you to a path. It is imperative that we continue to do what we know best, in order to beat back what we live through and what we witness. What we know best is music… It is our equipment, our shield, our battle axe,  and our healing power too.”

— Hatice (Soft Rains of April) in a LGBTI News Turkey interview about the project.