Ferdi Tayfur 'My Heart Burns'

Yesterday, at the AKP's Samsun Congress, President Erdoğan took the stage to the song "İçim Yanar" (My Heart Burns) by Ferdi Tayfur. Erdoğan began his speech by commemorating the legend of arabesque music, Ferdi Tayfur, who passed away the day before, with mercy. At the same time, Devlet Bahçeli, known as a fan of Ferdi Tayfur—who even conveys his political messages through his song lyrics—expressed his sorrow for Ferdi Tayfur with the words: "He was my brother. He was a master of voice and lyrics who was the interpreter of my heart's realm. I cannot find words to describe my sadness."

Yet, Ferdi Tayfur felt the same admiration that Bahçeli felt for him toward another fellow Adana native: Yılmaz Güney.

In an interview he gave in the 90s, he explained it as follows: "I always admired Yılmaz Güney; I have nothing to do with the idealists (Ülkücüler). Devlet Bahçeli listens to me, I wish he didn't, but I can't tell him not to listen."

Ferdi Tayfur, one of the pioneers of arabesque music, accumulated more fans throughout his life than 'Orhan Baba' (Orhan Gencebay). Because he was the leftist king of arabesque. His will proves once again that he was a true leftist and a noble-hearted person.

Let us convey Ferdi Tayfur's will in his own words:

"I bequeath that no royalties be collected from my songs after I die. Both while I am alive and when I am dead, I will say this so that everyone can listen to my songs without paying. Because my children or my heirs did not make those songs. I made those songs. I made them for the people, so that the people could hear them, so that people could benefit from them!"

Ferdi Tayfur's path crossed with another legendary name four years ago. It was the turning point of his life. Prof. Dr. Alper Demirbaş, who performed the highest number of kidney transplants in the world and was a Yılmaz Güney fan!

Prof. Dr. Alper Demirbaş, who maintained his world record by performing 6 thousand kidney transplants, saved Ferdi Tayfur from dialysis and convinced him to undergo a kidney transplant. With a quick decision, Ferdi Tayfur's 55-year-old son, Timur Turanbayburt, donated one of his kidneys to Ferdi Tayfur.

It was a difficult surgery. Because Ferdi Tayfur was a diabetic.

Professor Alper performed the kidney transplant on Ferdi Tayfur while listening to Ferdi Tayfur songs in the operating room. After that miraculous moment when his kidney began to function, turned pink, and Ferdi Tayfur regained his new life through the miracle of organ transplantation, Professor Alper and his team sang the song "Emmioğlu" in the operating room.

About a year before Ferdi Tayfur's passing, we also lost the legendary name of the organ transplant world, Prof. Dr. Alper Demirbaş. Due to Covid, which did not let go of him after his lung cancer surgery...

I respectfully remember these two friends, Ferdi Tayfur and Alper Demirbaş, who were both leftist, conscientious, and Yılmaz Güney fans, whose paths crossed thanks to the miracle of organ transplantation.

Arabesque music was one of the dynamics of the AKP's political rise!

Arabesque music emerged from a need. In the 70s, Turkey experienced a major demographic transformation with migration from villages to cities. With the agricultural mechanization in farming and the increasing demand for labor in cities, the rural population began to migrate to urban centers. It was born as the music of those who migrated from the village to the city. It emerged as the music of a culture caught in between, trying to keep up with the city from the outskirts during the transition from traditional to modern, having lost its traditions on one hand and failing to modernize on the other.

Arabesque spread rapidly as the music of a period when the gap between social classes was widening. For a long time, it was seen as marginal by the dominant ideology.

In the 80s, it was banned from being played or sung on state television.

Yet, arabesque was a product of urban culture. It was a space for both resistance and submission. It belonged to the people. Some circles labeled arabesque as "minibus music" or "shantytown music." It was different from all musical structures that did not fit into musical genres. It was belittled as a music that was neither folk song nor pop, but stuck in between. However, regardless of their social class, it was embraced by people in Turkey who felt marginalized and isolated. Countless articles have been written and research conducted on arabesque music.

The influence of arabesque music was also huge in the AKP's rise to power. Erdoğan appealed to the emotions of the conservative segments of rural origin and established a partnership with the ties of arabesque culture.

The discourse of "I also grew up in the shantytown neighborhood of this country" left its mark on the 90s and 2000s. Erdoğan, one of the young politicians of the period, played an important role in the organization of the 1993 Gülhane Concert, which brought Ferdi Tayfur together with the masses. The protest spirit of arabesque was one of the dynamics of the AKP's political rise.

However, over the years, the AKP government moved away from its identity of representing the oppressed. In 2024, the income inequality gap between the poorest 20 percent and the richest 20 percent increased 8-fold. The gap between the rich and the poor deepened even further. Social decay began. As the government moved away from the masses it represented and evolved into a hegemonic understanding, the era of arabesque music slowly came to an end.

With the passing of the king of arabesque music, Ferdi Tayfur, an era has undoubtedly come to an end.

Erdoğan taking the stage with Ferdi Tayfur's song "İçim Yanar" should be noted in history...