Aram Tigran () or Aramê Dîkran (

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

rendering from

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

), born Aram Melikyan (), (1934 – 8 August 2009) was a contemporary Syrian-Armenian singer who sang primarily in

. Among

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

, he was known as Aram Dikran. Tigran was born in

in northeastern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to an

family originally from

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

. Both of his parents were born in villages near the city Diyarbakır. His first Oud he received from his uncle at the age of six. After finishing ninth grade, he concentrated his efforts on learning music and playing Oud and in 1953 he gave his first public concert at the Newroz celebrations. By the age of twenty years, he was singing in four languages:

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Assyrian and

.Interview with Aram Tigran
, (in Kurdish). In 1966 he moved to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, Armenia, at the time a part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, where he was employed for eighteen years at Radio Yerevan. He left Armenia in 1995 and settled in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He is considered among the best of contemporary Kurdish singers and musicians. He recorded 230 songs in Kurdish, 150 in Arabic, 10 in Syriac, 8 in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. In 2009 he was able to visit the villages, where his parents grew up in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(present day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

), where he was welcomed in Diyarbakır and gave a concert at the Newroz celebrations in

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. Tigran died in

on August 8, 2009, in the Evangelismos General Hospital. Tigran wanted to be buried in

, an aim supported by the pro-Kurdish

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party (, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was c ...

(DTP), but the Turkish Ministry of the Interior refused this request, on grounds that he was not a

Turkish citizen Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of ''jus sanguinis''. Children who are born to a Turkish women, Turkish mother or a Turkish people, Turkish father (in or out of marriage) are Turkey, Turkish citizens from birth. The i ...

. Instead he was buried in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Cimetery of

Jette Jette (; ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Ganshoren, Koekelberg, and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, as well as the Fl ...

and some soil from Diyarbakır was poured into his grave. He was married and had three children.

Albums

*''Çîyayê Gebarê'', Aydın Müzik, 2004. *''Zîlan'', Aydın Müzik, 2004. *''Serxwebûn Xweş E'', Aydın Müzik, 2004. *''Kurdistan'', Aydın Müzik, 2004 *''Xazî Dîsa Zarbûma'' *''Rabin'' *''Evîna Feqiyê Teyran'' *''Keçê Dinê'' *''Ey Welato Em Heliyan'' *''Ay dilberê'' *''Daye min berde'' *''Diyarbekira serin'' *''Aydil'' *''Em hatin'' *''Heval Ferat''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tigran, Aram 20th-century Armenian male singers Syrian people of Armenian descent 1934 births 2009 deaths Kurdish-language singers of Armenia People from Qamishli