İbrahim Gökçek

İbrahim Gökçek — Biography

Ibrahim Gokcek (30 September 1980, Kayseri - 7 May 2020, Istanbul) was a Turkish musician best known as the bass guitarist of the group Grup Yorum. He appeared on the group's albums Yildizlar Kusandik (2006), Baseğmeden (2008), Halkin Elleri (2013) and Ille Kavga (2017).

Authorities considered Gokcek to have links to the DHKP-C, and he was taken into custody and imprisoned following a security operation in 2019. In protest of concert bans and pressure faced by Grup Yorum, he joined a hunger strike that began in June 2019, and in January 2020 escalated it into a death fast together with fellow band member Helin Bolek. As his health deteriorated he was released from prison in February 2020 but continued his protest.

He died in hospital on 7 May 2020, shortly after ending his hunger strike. Following tension surrounding a memorial gathering in Istanbul, he was buried in his hometown of Kayseri.