Mustafa Koçak

Mustafa Koçak — Biography

Mustafa Koçak (25 July 1991 – 24 April 2020) was a Turkish musician and political activist, a member of the leftist music group Grup Yorum. He was arrested on 23 September 2017 and, based on witness testimony, was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on charges of “violating the Constitution.”

Demanding a fair trial, Koçak began a hunger strike that he later escalated into a death fast. As the protest wore on, human rights organizations called for him to be examined by independent physicians. He died on the 279th day of his fast, weighing just 29 kg, at İzmir Şakran Prison on 24 April 2020 — barely three weeks after his Grup Yorum bandmate Helin Bölek died on 3 April following her own 288-day death fast on the same demand.

Koçak's death renewed public debate in Turkey over the right to a fair trial and prison conditions.