Founded in 1985 by four friends - Ayşegül Yordam, Metin Kahraman, Tuncay Akdoğan and Kemal Sahir Gürel - who were students of Marmara University Faculty of Communication and Yıldız University Department of Urban Planning, Grup Yorum continues its music activities as one of the most important representatives of protest and original music in Turkey and the world.
Grup Yorum has released a total of 25 albums since their first album in 1987. Although there have been interruptions from time to time due to arrests, imprisonment, death fasts, exile and various pressures throughout their nearly 40-year journey, the musical journey continues today with the members who took over the baton.
The band's 454 videos released to date have been banned from many digital platforms, especially YouTube, on the grounds of “national security and the protection of public order”. However, these bans did not prevent Grup Yorum from meeting its audience with new albums.
It is stated that nearly 500 lawsuits have been filed against Grup Yorum so far, and that about 20 of its members have lost their lives in prison and during death fasts, and that there are still members in prison.
Grup Yorum, one of the most important representatives of protest and original music, shared the album “Victory Halay”, released on December 14, 2025, with listeners on social media platforms. The band announced that the album was released in memory of Grup Yorum members İbrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek, who lost their lives in the death fast. Gökçek and Bölek, who had been on death fast for nearly 300 days, died in the hospitals where they were hospitalized.
Grup Yorum continued its activities at the İdil Cultural Center in Şişli Okmeydanı for a while, but due to raids and political bans, Grup Yorum continues its activities abroad.
Over the years, Grup Yorum has emphasized a slogan against the systematic pressures, arrests and attempts to silence them:
“Grup Yorum is the People. It will not be silenced.”