Âşık Veysel

Âşık Veysel, originally Veysel Şatıroğlu, was born on 25 October 1894 in Sivrialan village in Şarkışla (then Tenos) district of Sivas. He was born as the only child of his family belonging to the Şatırlı tribe of the Afshar tribe; His mother was Gülizar and his father was Ahmet, nicknamed "Karaca". Two of his sisters died due to a common disease in childhood, and Veysel lost both eyes from the same disease when he was seven years old.

Even though he lost his sight, he started to become a bard thanks to the baglama gifted to him by his father, and in a short time he began to memorize and sing the folk songs of the region.

Kutsi Bey, whom he met at a poets' night organized by Sivas Education Director Ahmet Kutsi Tecer in the 1930s, supported Veysel and enabled him to open the stage in a number of provinces. Thus, he became known throughout the country as one of the last great representatives of the Minstrel tradition. Over the years, he worked as a saz teacher in village institutes, in 1965 he was given a salary by a special law, and in the 1970s, artists such as SeldaBağcan, GüldenKaraböcek, Hümeyra reinterpreted his sayings and brought them to the masses.

Veysel's works were collected in books such as "Deyişler" (1944), "Voices from My Instruments" (1950) and "Dostlar Beni Olmasın" (1970); His poems such as "I'm on a Long and Thin Road", "Black Earth" and "Your Beauty Is Worthless" are still sung.

Veysel's language was simple and strong; It is possible to find subtle criticisms about love, tolerance, patriotism, nature and social issues in his poems. Many artists such as Tarkan, BarışManço, GüldenKaraböcek, SeldaBağcan, HalukLevent and BelkısAkkale sang his songs. In 2008, American guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani included an instrumental piece called "Aşık Veysel" in his album.

Veysel was deemed worthy of the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Prize in the "loyalty" category in 2022; With a circular published in the same year, 2023 was declared as the "Year of Aşık Veysel" in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death.