Funeral ceremony held at AKM for master actor Can Gürzap

Master actor Can Gürzap, who starred in highly popular productions such as "Kurtlar Vadisi" (Valley of the Wolves), "Bir Avuç Deniz" (A Handful of Sea), "Aşk Beklemez" (Love Doesn't Wait), "Medcezir", and "Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz" (The Bandits), had been receiving treatment in the hospital for a heart condition for some time.

Cinema, theater, and television actor, writer, and educator Can Gürzap passed away on December 1 at the age of 79. A funeral ceremony was held for the master actor at the Atatürk Cultural Center. Can Gürzap, who began his professional career in theater, bid farewell to life with a ceremony held on a theater stage. The ceremony was attended by many famous figures, including Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, and actors Atsız Karaduman, Haldun Dormen, and Işıl Yücesoy. A video chronicling the life of master actor Can Gürzap was screened during the ceremony.

“WE ARE DEEPLY SADDENED BY THE LOSS OF MR. CAN GÜRZAP”

Speaking at the funeral ceremony of master actor Can Gürzap, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said, "Unfortunately, we have lost a very valuable artist, a master. We have lost many valuable artists recently. Today, we are experiencing the deep sorrow of losing Mr. Can Gürzap. He was a writer, and a very important theater and cinema actor. He was also a master of voice acting. He was an artist who contributed greatly to the upbringing of the younger generation. Unfortunately, we have lost him. Our duty from now on is to concentrate on training new artists, honoring the legacy he left us. It is to show maximum effort in the training of new artists. May we all have patience, especially his family, his loved ones, and our art world."

“I AM VERY SAD LIKE EVERYONE ELSE”

At the funeral ceremony of the late Can Gürzap, Haldun Dormen stated, "I am very sad like everyone else. He was a very important theater professional, an actor, a director, and a tremendous educator. He was also a very close friend of mine. We hadn't seen each other much in recent years, but he was a very close friend. May he rest in peace."

“AND THAT BRAVE MAN NOW LIES HERE”

Speaking at the funeral ceremony, Atsız Karaduman said, "I met Can Hoca in 1974. After returning from England, he started teaching at the Ankara State Conservatory. He became my teacher there. Later, when he came to Istanbul, and I came as well, we became friends and companions beyond the teacher-student relationship. We became confidants. We became partners in trouble. Let me share my first impression from those long conversations: even in his high school and middle school years, he was deeply influenced by the thoughts on culture and art of his father, Reşit Gürzap, and his friend, Muhsin Ertuğrul, those first intellectuals of the Republic. This is his own expression. After finishing high school, he wanted to be an actor. Muhsin and Reşit Bey said, 'Come on, straight to the Ankara State Conservatory, finish school, then decide what you will do.' My teacher finished school and then went abroad. He received his education and returned to Turkey. To be an actor and director in theater, and that's not enough, to be an actor and director on the radio, and that's not enough, to be an actor and director on television, and that's not enough, to be an actor and director in cinema, and that's not enough, to write plays, to translate plays—this is not something every brave man can do. And that brave man now lies here. Do you know what he did with the money he earned from those projects? He didn't invest it in this or that fund. He opened a school so that the people of this country could speak their own mother tongue properly. He trained thousands of people."