Âşık Veysel (Turkish: ːˈʃɯk vejˈsæl born Veysel Şatıroğlu (Turkish: �aːˈtɯɾ.oːɫu; 25 October 1894 – 21 March 1973) was a Turkish

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

ashik An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, :ka:აშუღი, აშუღი) is traditionally a List of oral repositories, singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as ''Azeri hikaye, hikaye' ...

bağlama The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...

virtuoso, and folk poet. He was born and died in the village of Sivrialan,

Sivas Province Sivas Province () is a province of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Its area is 28,164 km2 (the second largest province after Konya), and its population is 634,924 (2022). Its adjacent prov ...

, 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 ...

(later

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 ...

). Blind since the age of 7, Veysel's songs were typically melancholic, and dealt with a range of themes revolving around morality, love, faith, life and death, patriotism, nature, and his own perception of the world as a blind man. Veysel is considered one of the most prominent icons of

Turkish folk music Turkish folk music () is the traditional music of Turkish people living in Turkey influenced by the cultures of Anatolia and former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under one umbrella. It includ ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. Among his most popular folk songs are

Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım Uzun may refer to: Places * Uzun, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran * Uzun, Tajikistan a Jamoat in Tajikistan * Uzun, Uzbekistan, a village in Uzbekistan * Uzun District in Uzbekistan * Uzun, Kuqa, a town in Kuqa, Xinjiang, Kuqa, Aksu Prefe ...

(Turkish: ''I'm on a Long and Narrow Road''); "Black Earth" (''Kara Toprak''); "Let My Friends Remember Me" (''Dostlar Beni Hatırlasın'') and "Your Beauty is Worth Nothing" (''Güzelliğin On Para Etmez''). In 2022, Veysel was posthumously awarded a Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award by the

Turkish President The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

, in the "loyalty" category. In 2023, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Veysel was recommended to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

for a year of commemoration, backed by Turkey,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. His 125th birthday was commemorated in a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

on October 25, 2017.

Family

Veysel Şatıroğlu was born in Sivrialan, an

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n village in

, in late 1894, the son of Gülizar Keçecigillerden and "Karaca" Ahmet Şatıroğlu, a farmer. He was his parents' fifth child. These included two elder sisters, both of whom died in infancy of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

; and two brothers, one of whom died in infancy, and the other in a childhood accident. Only one brother, Ali, survived to adulthood. In 1896, Veysel's birth was followed by that of a younger sister, Elif.Alptekin, Ali Berat (2004). ''Türküz Türkü Çağırırız / Âşık Veysel.'' Ankara: Akçağ Yay. Veysel's ancestry is not well-known. His family were Alevis, whose ancestors migrated to Anatolia from

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

sometime during the 17-18th centuries. Initially settling in the

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

region of Anatolia, the family later moved to

Divriği Divriği (; ) is a town of eleven thousand people in Sivas Province, Turkey, and is the district capital of Divriği District. Karaca Ahmet, Veysel's father, was orphaned at a young age, and grew up in Sivrialan as a shepherd and farmer. The family surname was initially Ulu, although the descendants of Ahmet Karaca were known as the "Şatıroğulları", a nickname, since at least the time of Veysel's birth. The surname was legally changed in 1934 to Şatıroğlu, after the passage of the Turkish

Surname Law The Surname Law () of the Republic of Turkey is a law adopted on 21 June 1934, requiring all citizens of Turkey to adopt the use of fixed, hereditary surnames. Prior to 1934, Turkish families in the major urban centres had names by which they were ...

in that same year.

Childhood: 1894–1906

Veysel's exact date of birth is disputed. It is typically given as 25 October, but the precise day is unknown; the best estimates suggest he was born in the autumn of 1894. He spent his entire childhood in his home village of Sivrialan, where his father's family, known as the Şatıroğulları, resided in four small houses overlooking the surrounding mountains.

Birth and naming

According to Veysel's mother, Gülizar, she gave birth to Veysel on the way home from milking sheep, in a nearby pasture known as Ayipınarı. Unable to return home in time, she delivered Veysel by the roadside and cut the

umbilical cord In Placentalia, placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or ''funiculus umbilicalis'') is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord i ...

herself, using a rock, then wrapped up the infant and walked back to Sivrialan (known as Söbüalan at the time). As all but one of Gülizar and Ahmet's previous children had died of smallpox, their newborn son was taken to Mount Beserek, a sacred mountain located approximately 10 km (6.21 miles) from Sivrialan. The mountain is thought to have healing properties; according to local folklore, Mount Beserek was the site where the 6th century

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic martyr

Owais al-Qarani Awais () or Owais is an Arabic given name. Meaning Awais means 'gifted' or 'bestowed' and was the name of one of Prophet Muhammad's companions Uways al-Qarani. Notable people Notable people with the name include: ; Given name * Awais Ali (born ...

( Turkish: Veysel Karanî), found some camels he had previously lost in

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 ...

. Al-Qarani was martyred in the

Battle of Siffin The Battle of Siffin () was fought in 657 CE (37 Islamic calendar, AH) between the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib and the rebellious governor of Syria (region), Syria Muawiyah I, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. The battle is named after its ...

, where he had fought for another prominent Islamic figure,

Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...

. In light of this, Ahmet and Gülizar named their newborn son Veysel, believing this name would compliment that of their older son, Ali Şatıroğlu.

Blindness

In later interviews, Veysel described his earliest childhood as being happy. In his own words, he recollected, "until the age of seven I ran and played and had fun like everybody else." Veysel had a fine voice from a young age, and from the age of 3 or 4 was frequently asked to sing.Eröz, N. (1936). "Saz Şairleri". Yedigün. S. 7/161, s. 11-12, 23. Of his father, Karaca Ahmet, Veysel recalled:

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

was prolific in the region, and struck Sivas in the winter of 1901. Veysel, aged 7, had received a new robe (an entari) from his mother, and went to a nearby house to show it to Muhsine, the wife of his maternal uncle (Veysel's memory of this event was unreliable; in other recollections, he stated that had merely gone outside to play). It had recently rained in Sivrialan, and the road was saturated with mud and snow. On the way home, Veysel's foot slipped. He fell and bloodied his hand, and, after lying there for some time, got up and ran home in tears. It was discovered that he had developed a

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

. Veysel was undressed and quickly put to bed. The next morning, he was unable to get up; it was soon discovered that Veysel too, had contracted smallpox. Veysel was bedridden for three months. As the disease progressed, he developed a smallpox

pustule A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this ...

in his left eye, which eventually caused a leakage that left him completely blind on that side. Veysel's right eye was spared, but quickly began to fail as well. He was left able only to perceive changes in light. By the time the pox eventually faded, Veysel was blind and scarred for the rest of his life, and needed to be led by the hand. His first guide was his sister Elif, who would frequently lead her brother around the village, describing to him what she saw. Of this period in his life, Veysel said: At this stage, there remained hope that Veysel would be able to regain the use of his right eye. There were

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

s in nearby

Akdağmadeni Akdağmadeni (Greek: Ἀργυρίων, ''Argyríōn'') is a town in the Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Akdağmadeni District.cataract surgery Cataract surgery, also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens (anatomy), lens of the human eye, eye that has developed a cataract, an opaque or cloudy area. The eye's natural lens is usually replaced with an artific ...

. Some years after Veysel had first contracted smallpox, itinerant ophthalmologists (locally referred to as "swallow servants", ''Turkish: kırlangıç uşakları'') arrived in Sivrialan and examined Veysel's right eye. They informed Veysel's father, Karaca Ahmet, that cataract surgery would be able to restore the vision in that eye, but as they did not carry the necessary equipment, advised Ahmet to take Veysel to

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

for surgery. Conflicting accounts exist as to the sequence of events that followed. The most commonly cited version is the one recounted by Veysel in 1964, during an interview with TRT correspondent Rıdvan Çongur. In this recollection, Ahmet had planned to take Veysel to Akdağmadeni for surgery, but for one reason or another, was yet to make the trip. One day, Veysel was with his mother Gülizar, out milking their cows. Ahmet came up behind them and called his son by name. Veysel, who had not realized his father was close by, turned around, and was accidentally pierced in the right eye by a

cattle prod A cattle prod, also called a stock prod or a hot stick, is a handheld device commonly used to make cattle or other livestock move by striking or poking them. An electric cattle prod is a stick with electrodes on the end which is used to make catt ...

his father had been holding, thereby losing the remaining vision in that eye. The second version of events also originates from Veysel. In this second recollection, first recounted in 1936 for the magazine ''Yedi Gün'', Veysel was in the barn, feeding grass to one of the family's cows. The trip to Sivas was to take place in the next few days; Ahmet was poor, and had been saving up for the trip. However, when the cow suddenly moved its head, it pierced Veysel's right eye with the tip of its horn. Veysel recollected the incident similarly in 1969 for the newspaper

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

; in this retelling, the accident occurred in 1906, when Veysel was already 12 years old. Veysel stated that the cow's horn gouged out his eye, and that he ran outside screaming, attracting the attention of his father and some of the other villagers. Veysel understood from the adults' conversation that he would remain permanently blind in his right eye. According to Veysel, he and his father went to Sivas anyway, still hopeful that something could be done—there, Veysel was sat on a couch, and his right eye examined. A brief silence followed. Veysel, understanding that he would be blind for the rest of his life, began to weep. The veracity of either version of events has not been proven. It is possible that the second story may not have been true, and may have been invented by Veysel to absolve his father of any possible blame for his blindness. However, this does not explain why Veysel related this story in 1936, but chose to default to the first version by as late as 1964. The most probable explanation is that Veysel simply did not remember. He told both versions of the story in various interviews throughout his life, and sometimes even mixed up his eyes (for instance, he would point to his left instead of his right eye as the one blinded by smallpox). When asked by an interviewer whether he remembered the days before he had gone blind, Veysel replied, "I don't remember. No. I was too young."

Introduction to the saz

Veysel's blindness meant that he was unable to work a farm, one of the only professions in Sivrialan at the time. Unable to attend school, he never learned to read or write. Veysel's bitterness at being denied an education was lifelong, and he resigned himself to learning what he could of the

alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

and the

surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

s, from whatever schoolwork Veysel's brother Ali would recite aloud. The newly blinded Veysel relied on the support of his brother Ali and sister Elif, who helped him to walk and provided him with constant support. However, Veysel struggled to come to terms with his blindness, and became increasingly withdrawn. Veysel's situation was a source of constant worry for his father, Ahmet, who feared that his own passing would leave no one to take care of Veysel. The Emlek region, by which the area around Sivrialan was known, was at the time a popular place for itinerant bards and

s to come and perform their compositions. Ahmet, who was interested in poetry, read Veysel poems in an effort to console him. In 1904 or 1905, Ahmet made a trip to the village of Ortaköy, 21 km from

Şarkışla Şarkışla is a town in the Central Anatolian Sivas Province of Turkey. It is the seat of Şarkışla District. At the Mustafa Kemal lodge in Ortaköy, Ahmet discussed his worries with one Hakkı Baba, who gave Ahmet a broken three-stringed saz, which Ahmet later gave to Veysel.Alkan, Erdoğan. (1969). "Aşık Veysel". ''Turkish Radio and Television Corporation'' (Interview). Veysel Şatıroğlu. Sivrialan, Sivas. Retrieved on 6th May 2024 from URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWW0oEfKuzg Asking what the instrument was, Veysel was told that the saz was a gift to keep him entertained. Veysel first took saz lessons from a neighbour, Molla Hüseyin, who also tuned and replaced any broken strings. However, whilst he enjoyed the saz's sound, Veysel initially found it too difficult to learn, and tried to throw the instrument aside. Ahmet, in contrast, was adamant that his son learn; Veysel, who could not plow, sow, or harvest, but who had a fine voice, could use the saz as a way to earn a living. In a quote recounted decades later by Veysel himself, Ahmet had told his son: Though Veysel was initially reluctant, he understood his father's concerns, and he eventually began to learn the saz in earnest, also committing traditional folk songs and poems to memory, including the works of

Yunus Emre Yunus Emre (), also known as Derviş Yûnus (Yûnus the Dervish) (1238–1320) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره), was a Turkish folk poet and Sufi who greatly influenced Turkish culture. The UNESCO General Conference unanimously passe ...

Pir Sultan Abdal Pir Sultan Abdal (born Haydar) was a prominent Turkish poeta b Gülseren Özdemir. "Pîr Sultan Abdal Animizm İnançlar" (PDF). Çukurova University. 2 February 2014. Accessed: 5 November 2008. and an important religious figure in Alevism of T ...

Karacaoğlan Karacaoğlan was a 17th-century Anatolian Turkish folk poet and ashik. His exact dates of birth and death are unknown but it is widely accepted that he was born around 1606 and died around 1679. He lived around the city of Osmaniye. His tomb, wh ...

, Kemter Baba, Veli, Visali, Kul Abdal, Emrah, Tarsuslu Sıtkı, Şahan Ağa, and other great

poets and ashiks of Anatolia. Veysel also listened to the works of other ashiks; his favourite was a friend and contemporary of his, Hıdır Dede, also from Sivrialan and about Veysel's age.

Early years: 1906–1931

From about the age of 8, Veysel's education was continued by his father's friend, Çamışıhlı Ali Ağa, also called Âşık Ali. Ali, who lived in abject poverty, earned his living as an itinerant saz teacher, and would frequently obtain lodgings by staying in students' homes across the Emlek region. He came to Sivrialan around the winter of 1902 to 1904, when Veysel was 8 or 10 years old. At this time, Alevi religious gatherings and similar festivities were frequently held in Sivrialan, and Veysel often attended out of his love for music and conversation. At one such gathering, where Âşık Ali was present, the young Veysel was for unknown reasons expelled from the assembly with the invective, "get out, blind boy!" Such insults were common in Anatolian peasant villages, including Sivrialan; Veysel's nickname there was "Blind Veysel" (Turkish: Kör Veysel), and he was occasionally called "Blind Boy" (Turkish: Kör Oğlan) to his face, usually (though not always) as an insult, regardless of Veysel's personal feelings on the matter. In one account, though very poorly attested, the reason for Veysel's expulsion was that he had, in his intrigue and his blindness, gotten too close to the speaker at the gathering, and his unkempt and smallpox-ravaged appearance had offended one of the villagers, who allegedly slapped him. Regardless of the true reason, Âşık Ali took pity on Veysel. Ali made a saz and gave it to Veysel, then spent the year by Veysel's side, teaching him the basics. Though he initially struggled with the saz, and though he felt that both Molla Hüseyin and Ali Ağa had to put considerable effort into teaching him, Veysel eventually came to enjoy it once he had learned how to tune his instrument on his own. Having learned to play saz proficiently by the age of 20, Veysel's early years were spent playing the saz predominantly for his entertainment alone.

First World War and War of Independence

Veysel was 20 years old when the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out on 28 July 1914. Three months later, on 31 October 1914, the

officially entered the war. In the ensuing mobilization, all men of eligible age (20-45) were

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

to the front, including most of Veysel's peers and his older brother Ali; however Veysel, though a staunch

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and desperate to fight, was obliged to stay home with his parents and saz. Veysel was devastated. He instantly fell into a deep depression that he self-described as one of the darkest periods of his life. Veysel was left behind yet again when the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

broke out on 19 May 1919 Of this time in his life, Veysel reflected: Of his state of mind during this time, he also noted: To escape his sorrow, Veysel spent most of his time in the garden, sleeping under a pear tree. At night, he would climb into the treetops and sit there until morning. He began to carry his saz slung over his shoulder like a rifle, which his biographer and friend, Erdogan Alkan, speculated was homage to Veysel's ineligibility to fight; Veysel continued to carry his saz this way for the rest of his life. He also commemorated this period in his later poems. With the end of the Turkish War of Independence in 1923, Ali returned home to Sivrialan, and Veysel was encouraged to pick up the saz again. Now of age and needing to support himself, this marked the first time that Veysel began to play the saz in a professional capacity; he started to earn a small living by playing in village cafes, and at weddings and holidays. Veysel stayed mostly within Sivrialan and nearby villages, as the saz was still perceived to be a sinful and shameful instrument, especially in big cities. Reportedly, Veysel could not be seen with his instrument without having it confiscated and burned by the authorities.

First marriage

By the end of the War, Veysel's parents were very old. Veysel was by now 25 years old. Continuing to worry about their younger son's future, Veysel's parents arranged a marriage for him with Esma, the daughter of a relative living in the village. Veysel had two children by Esma; their firstborn, Ali Şatıroğlu, died aged just 10 days, when he reportedly suffocated while Esma was breastfeeding him. Their second child was a daughter, named Elif. According to most accounts, the marriage was unhappy, although the precise reason is unclear. Veysel remained markedly silent on the issue, though he suggested his poems that Esma thought he was crazy, and was cold to him. It is possible that he also blamed her for the death of their son. Veysel once fell asleep with his infant daughter beside him, and woke up horrified, thinking that he might have suffocated her if he had rolled over in his sleep. Conversely, Esma accused Veysel of being grumpy and baselessly suspicious, and even alleged that Veysel had beaten her. Their mutual acquaintance, Veysel Kaymak, believed that Veysel had been jealous of Esma for being beautiful. He would purportedly conduct bizarre tests to prove Esma's loyalty to him; in one instance, Veysel hid an apple under Esma's pillow, then demanded to know who had put it there; he would climb onto the roof and throw stones down the chimney, then study Esma's reaction. They agreed only on one point--for, when asked what she thought of her husband, Esma stated, "he was crazy, crazy!" Veysel's mother died on 24 February 1921, followed 8 months later by his father. The death of Gulizar hit Veysel especially hard; he would later compose a poem in her memory. This did not help the mood at home. Veysel and Esma's neighbour was a man named Hüseyin, the brother of a farmhand ( ırgat) whom Veysel's brother Ali had hired after having a daughter of his own. Esma, feeling harassed by her own husband, would allegedly wait until Veysel had left the house, before going to spend time with Hüseyin. Veysel began to become suspicious that Esma was having an affair. He apparently warned Esma about Hüseyin several times, though Esma always reassured her husband that nothing had happened between them, and asked Veysel "how could he think of such a thing?" Esma soon fell in love with Hüseyin. One day, when Veysel was sick in bed and Ali was out collecting

milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to huma ...

, Esma ran away with Hüseyin, leaving Veysel and his six-month-old daughter behind. Veysel continued to care for his daughter, but the child died at the age of two. Esma and Hüseyin, ultimately growing disillusioned with their escape, eventually returned to Sivrialan, and continued to reside there alongside Veysel. Veysel, on learning that Esma had returned, only asked if Esma was in need of anything, and would continue to make his relatives ask. Veysel later wrote a poem capturing his grief and anger towards Hüseyin, placing the blame on him for the death of Veysel's daughter. According to a widespread story told about this time in Veysel's life, Veysel was fully aware that Esma intended to run away, but never let on that he knew. The story goes that during Esma and Hüseyin's escape, the lovers stopped to rest at a fountain near

Bafra Bafra is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Covering about 1,500 km2, and with over 140,000 inhabitants it is a settlement located from the Black Sea, in the fertile Kızılırmak Delta. The Bafra Pl ...

, in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

. Esma had been bothered by what she thought was a pebble in her shoe since leaving Sivrialan. Removing her sock, Esma found money inside, Veysel having stashed it there so that she would not be in want. Whilst this story is often related and was believed by Veysel's children and grandchildren, it is probably apocryphal. The death of Veysel's parents, the end of his marriage, and the deaths of his children, led Veysel to consider leaving Sivrialan for the first time. In 1928, he resolved to make for

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

with his friend Ibrahim. On the way, they stopped at the village of Karaçayır, 22 km from Sivas. Veysel played the saz for a man there. Apparently deeply affected by the thought of Veysel's departure, the man, Deli Süleyman, begged Veysel not to leave, to such an extent that Veysel finally gave up the notion.

Second marriage

Having given up on Adana, Veysel began to make the journey back to Sivrialan. On the way, he passed through the Hafik District of Sivas. He bought a new saz for 9

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

in the village of Yalıncak, where he and his travelling companions were also swindled by

gamblers Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

. Yalıncak was notable for being the location of an important tomb, and Veysel, who had heard of the place from his father, wished to visit it. He stayed a few nights in a local inn (''tekke''), known as the Yalıncak Baba Lodge. At the time of Veysel's visit, the lodge was owned by one Hamza Ertemür, of the nearby village of Karayaprak. The lodge was maintained by members of Hamza's family. This included his granddaughter Gülizar, a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

, who was in charge of the cleaning, and who also assisted Veysel. He and his companions arrived on

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

day, when all the local lodges were closed and the local

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

were on high alert; Gülizar, who opened the door to them, at first thought that Veysel's saz was a

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

. This marked Veysel's first time meeting Gülizar; however, Gülizar later recounted in interviews that she had had a dream in which she was visited by a 14th-century folk poet, who told her that she would be the one to spread Veysel's ashes. In other accounts, Gülizar purportedly had a dream in which she saw herself marrying Veysel. After his stay in Yalıncak, Veysel returned to Sivrialan. Almost as soon as he had arrived there, Veysel dispatched a letter to the village where Gülizar lived, Karayaprak, bearing his

proposal of marriage A marriage proposal is a custom or ritual, common in Western cultures, in which one member of a couple asks the other for their hand in marriage. If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement, a mutual promise of later marriage. Norms a ...

. Both Gülizar and her father were initially hesitant to accept. This hesitance was entirely practical; Veysel's blindness meant that he could not mend fences, bring in the harvest, or perform other manual tasks. By her own admission, Gülizar was also hesitant to marry a blind man. Sivrialan was also very remote, about 136 km (83.9 miles) from Karayaprak on foot. However, Gülizar's grandfather Hamza came to Veysel's defense, arguing that the proposal must be

divine will The will of God or divine will is a concept found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and a number of other texts and worldviews, according to which God's will is the cause of everything that exists. Thomas Aquinas According to Thomas Aquin ...

, and therefore, should not be opposed. Despite the continued protests of Gülizar's father, Hamza forwarded a letter of acceptance to Sivrialan. Veysel sent his brother Ali's wife, Yeter, and his aunt's son, İbrahim, to Karayaprak to fetch Gülizar, who married Veysel in that same year, sometime around March 1928. She took nothing with her to Sivrialan except for a sack of meat, signifying that Gülizar would bring only her person into the marriage; she was married without a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

. Gülizar and Veysel had seven children together, though their son, Hüseyin, died when he was a few months old. The marriage was happy, and lasted until Veysel's death. In a later conversation where her husband was present, Gülizar would note:

Rise to fame: 1931–1935

Veysel's name first became known outside his local circle when he met Ahmet Kutsi Tecer in 1931. Tecer, himself a poet and a literature teacher in schools in Sivas and

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, recognized Veysel's skill with the saz, and was the key figure responsible for launching Veysel's name onto the national stage. In 1931, Tecer, alongside his colleagues Muzaffer Sarısözen and Vehbi Cem Aşkun, founded the Association for the Protection of Folk Poets, with Sivas' mayor, Osman Hikmet Işık, appointed as association president.

Sivas Folk Poets Festival

In the same year, 1931, Tecer's association organized the first Folk Poets Festival in Sivas, intended to showcase the work of local folk poets. There was some difficulty in finding minstrels to attend the event; it was a novelty, and folk poets at the time were not accustomed to performing in front of large audiences. Tecer and his colleagues launched a search for minstrels across Sivas, including in Sivrialan, where a few representatives visited Veysel's house. Reportedly, Veysel was shy. The presence of state officials in his home made him worry that something would happen to him, and Veysel instructed Gülizar to say that he was not at home. However, he was ultimately persuaded, and allegedly participated in the festival against the advice of the other villagers in Sivrialan. The first Sivas Folk Poets Festival was launched on November 5, 1931, and lasted for three days. In total, 15 minstrels and folk poets were found to attend, including Veysel; most were also instrumentalists. Veysel sang from the repertoire he had learned from Çamışıhlı Ali Ağa. The festival was ultimately successful; Although Veysel did not perform his own poetry at the time, his performance attracted the intellectuals of urban Sivas, who were allegedly unaware of such a rich folk tradition among the local peasantry. At the festival's conclusion, Veysel was offered 10

in payment. Veysel, however, rejected the money, despite being very poor. Veysel was recorded as saying: "You valued us and invited us here. We should really be giving it to you." He was finally compelled to take 5 lira. Of his participation in the event, Veysel commented some years later:

Ankara

In 1933, the

Republic of 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 ...

, which had replaced the old Ottoman Empire, was approaching its 10th anniversary. Tecer was by this time Director of Education for Sivas, a post he had been appointed to in 1932. In this capacity, Tecer began to encourage the ashiks of Sivas, including Veysel, to compose a poem reflecting on the nascent Republic and its

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

. Until this point, Veysel had never sung any of his own poetry. Although personal composition formed a core part of the ashik tradition, and despite having allegedly composed poetry before, Veysel never performed it, as he was worried that people would think he was in love with one of the local girls. Tecer's request, however, tempted him; Veysel was a staunch

, as well as a lifelong admirer of Atatürk and his reforms. In response, Veysel revealed his first poem, "Atatürk is the Revival of Turkey" (Turkish: Atatürk’tür Türkiye’nin İhyası). For his effort, Tecer gave Veysel a certificate identifying him as a folk poet. This certificate allowed Veysel and other poets like him to move around the country without fear that their instruments would be taken away and destroyed. Veysel's poem was very popular, and was forwarded to both Tecer and to

by Ali Rıza Bey, then the Director of Ağacakışla township, with which Sivrialan was affiliated. However, no response was received from Ankara. Veysel therefore resolved to travel there on foot, alongside a friend, his cousin İbrahim Tutuş (nicknamed "Cort İbrahim"),Bekki, Salahaddin. (2022). Kendini Yazdıran Sanatkar: Âşık Veysel. with the hopes of personally presenting the epic to Atatürk. The journey was very difficult, having been undertaken in tough winter conditions, and took three months to complete. At one point, passing a herd of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

between

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

and

Kırşehir Kırşehir, historically known as Mocissus or Mokissos () and Justinianopolis () in ancient times, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Kırşehir Province and Kırşehir District.Mustafa Ekmekçi, Âşık Veysel'le Konuşmalar, Yeni Ortam gazetesi 2 Ocak 1973 However, Veysel could not pick up a stone without exposing his head to the dogs. They were only rescued later by the arrival of the cowherd. Once at Ankara, neither Veysel nor Ibrahim had the money to stay in a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

. They were advised to stay with a

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

from

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

, who was known for his hospitality, and they stayed with the Pasha for a few days in the neighborhood of Dağardı. Next, Veysel and Ibrahim stayed in the home of a local man, Hasan Efendi, who ran a business owning horse-drawn carriages. They resided at Hasan Efendi's house for 45 days. Eventually, Veysel, impatient, told Efendi that he and Ibrahim had come to Ankara to present Veysel's epic to Atatürk, and asked how it might be accomplished. Efendi was poor, and not very well-connected. He had heard of a member of parliament by the name of Mustafa Bey, but could not remember his surname. He advised Veysel to speak to the MP. The MP was resistant to the idea. Initially instructing Veysel and Ibrahim to go away, he heard Veysel perform, but was only willing to present Veysel's poem to a local newspaper, the Hakimiyet-i Milliye. He advised Veysel and Ibrahim to return the next day. However, they were later informed that nothing further could be done. At a loss for what else to do, Veysel and Ibrahim decided to go to the printing press themselves. Veysel's saz needed to be restringed, so the pair proceeded to the

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

in Ulus Square (then known as Karaoğlan Square) to buy strings. Their visit happened to coincide with an upcoming visit by the

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

. As such, security was very tight. Veysel and Ibrahim, being ignorant of urban affairs, dressed in shabby clothes, and (in Veysel's case) blind, were barred from entry by a local policeman.Tahir Kutsi, Aşık Veysel, Ararat Yayınevi, İstanbul Nisan 1973, s. 28. A second attempt to enter the bazaar was countered with threats. The policeman only ceded to the pair's defiance on the condition that Veysel, being blind, would let Ibrahim buy the strings in his stead, and they went to the printing press the next day. After hearing Veysel's poem, the reception of the press was much more encouraging, and despite Veysel's own doubts, his photograph and an article about his poem were duly published on April 3, 1934. The story was circulated for three days, bringing Veysel's name to public prominence across Ankara. Despite this, no news was heard from Atatürk. Veysel and Ibrahim decided to return to Sivrialan. By this point, however, both were out of money. They contacted a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

for assistance, who sent a letter to the Ankara Municipality on Veysel and Ibrahim's behalf. Both the Municipality and the Government Office denied them any money, informing the pair that they should return to Sivrialan by the same way in which they had come. Deciding to see if they could earn any money at the Ankara Community Center, Veysel and Ibrahim proceeded there, but were again denied entry. Thankfully, a passerby recognized Veysel from his photograph, and helped to obtain their entry. The community center deputies bought both Veysel and Ibrahim a pair of suits, and they gave a concert on Sunday of that week, for which they were given money. Veysel and Ibrahim used this money to return to Sivrialan.

Stardom

Having been denied a meeting with Atatürk in Ankara, Veysel played saz in other cities and villages to earn a living, also attending minstrel meetings in

Çorum Çorum () is a northern Anatolian city in Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul. It is the seat of Çorum Province and of Çorum District.< ...

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

, and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. In

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Veysel—once again with İbrahim as a travelling companion—was advised by a listener to meet with Mesut Cemil, the manager of a radio station located near the Tokatlıyan Hotel in Istanbul, where Veysel would be able to go on air. Veysel hoped this would be a second opportunity to possibly meet Atatürk. Bearing a

letter of introduction The letter of introduction, along with the visiting card, was an important part of polite social interaction in the 18th and 19th centuries. It remains important in formal situations, such as an ambassador presenting his or her credentials (a ...

from İzmir, Veysel went to Istanbul with İbrahim and performed for Cemil, who was so deeply touched by Veysel's playing that it, reportedly, moved him to tears. Cemil agreed to feature Veysel in that evening's 8 o' clock

broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

. He made his first radio appearance, alongside İbrahim, on April 15, 1936. Though Veysel sung at the top of his lungs—having never interacted with a radio before, he had mistakenly assumed that he would need to shout to be heard—the performance was extremely well received, and Cemil's office was inundated with cards and flowers. Veysel and Ibrahim were put up that evening in the house of a local man. Unbeknownst to Veysel at the time, his radio appearance had in fact been attended by Atatürk himself. Atatürk was so impressed that he telephoned the radio station from Dolmabahçe, requesting to see Veysel. However, Cemil did not know where Veysel was staying. The local police were dispatched to search for Veysel and İbrahim, but neither could be found, despite continuing the search throughout the night. Veysel and İbrahim were only informed of Atatürk's phone call when they returned to Cemil's office the next day. Still hopeful that a meeting could be arranged, Cemil wrote them a letter of introduction to an official at Dolmabahçe, Yaver Şükrü, and Veysel and İbrahim proceeded there immediately with the letter in hand. Şükrü, however informed them that they were most likely too late. Indeed, an audience could not be arranged with Atatürk. This second misfortune touched Veysel deeply. He remembered it for the rest of his life, and would recount the incident to his children every

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

on October 29, even long after Atatürk predeceased him in 1938. Veysel and İbrahim continued to make records an appear on the radio together for four years. They were invited to appear on air again in 1936 by Columbia Plak Finna, where they made a joint recording of the folk song "Mecnun'um Leyla'mı Gördüm" ( I'm Mecnun, I saw my Leyla). Both Veysel and Ibrahim also were cited as sources for a number of folk songs recorded in a compilatory book published in 1938. In 1940, Veysel and İbrahim travelled to Tarsus. At the Şadırvanlı Inn, where Veysel and İbrahim shared a room, Veysel went out one morning to find that his money, which he kept in a wallet in his jacket pocket, had been stolen. The door to Veysel's room had been locked, and only three people had access. Veysel quickly suspected Ibrahim. He composed and performed a poem about the incident, entitled "Locked Door, Empty Wallet in Pocket" (Kapı Kitli Cüzdan Cepte Para Yok'')'', describing the crime, his feelings regarding it, and his message to the thief (ironically, this included the invective that the thief should, like Veysel had, become blind in both eyes). Although this poem never explicitly incriminated Ibrahim, and although the evidence was entirely circumstantial—especially given Ibrahim's previously stellar track record with Veysel—the two soon parted ways. Nothing is known of what became of Ibrahim afterwards. Many years passed before Veysel later discovered, by sheer coincidence, that the real culprit had been the hotel manager's young son, who confessed to the crime as an adult, while Veysel was staying at his house. By this time, Veysel no longer bore any anger towards the thief, but, there was no known reconciliation with Ibrahim. From 1940 onwards, Veysel began to travel with a second companion, Veysel Erkılıç (b. 1913), also a minstrel, with whom he would sometimes perform. Because they shared the same name, Erkılıç quickly gained the nickname 'Little Veysel' (Turkish: Küçük Veysel). Erkılıç remained with Âşık Veysel until the former's death of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1960.

Saz instructor: 1941–1946

Village institutes

By 1945, Ahmet Kutsi Tecer had begun to implement music programs at local

Village Institutes Village Institutes (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Köy Enstitüleri'') were a group of rural schools in Turkey founded in accordance with a project led by Hasan Âli Yücel, who was the Ministry of Education (Turkey), Minister of Education at the t ...

, aiming to provide an education to children of the local peasantry—then numbering approximately 12 million people—with no access to primary schools. With the initiatives of Sabahattin Eyüboğlu, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, İsmail Hakkı Tonguç, and Bedrettin Tuncel, Tecer appointed Veysel as a saz instructor at the Arifiye Village Institute in 1941. Veysel also taught saz at the village institutes of Hasanoğlan (1942), Eskişehir Çifteler (1943), Kastamonu Gülköy (1944), Yıldızeli Pamukpınar (1945), and Samsun Ladik Akpınar (1946). In addition to teaching, he also gave concerts at the village institutes of Savaştepe, Pulur, Akçadağ, Kepirtepe, and Düziçi, as well as at local community centers. Veysel, himself deprived of his own education, was a staunch supporter of the village institute system. The position also gave him opportunities to befriend prominent intellectuals such as Sabahattin Eyuboğlu, Ruhi Su, and Yaşar Kemal. Both Kemal and Su believed that Veysel wrote his most beautiful poems during this period. One of his most famous compositions, "Black Earth" (Turkish: Kara Toprak) was written at Çifteler. Indeed, Veysel found such joy in teaching saz at the institutes that Kemal, who heard his singing at Hasanoğlan in 1942, asked if

would have sung as happily; initially pretending not to understand Kemal, Veysel eventually laughed and replied simply that Karacaoğlan would have found it impossible: "He didn't have Hasanoğlan!" As Veysel spent more time at the institutes, however, he began to grow bored. At Ladik, he wrote a new poem, "Letter" (Turkish: Mektup), framing it as a letter from his wife Gülizar, asking him to come home to Sivrialan. In a later conversation with TRT correspondent and friend Erdogan Alkan, Veysel explained that whilst he championed the institutes' initiative, he had always disliked towns and unfamiliar places, because his blindness made them restricting; Veysel found the environment too loud, and did not like that he was unable to go outside on his own (Veysel spent much of this period being guided by his eldest son, Ahmet). In contrast, Veysel knew Sivrialan well enough that he could walk around independently and enter any house he wanted. Whilst at the Village Institute at Ladik in 1946, Veysel was given 15 days leave to return to his village. He did not return to the institutes again.Erdoğan Alkan, Âşık Veysel Şatıroğlu'nun Yaşam Öyküsü ve Şiiri, 21 Mart 1993 Anma gecesinde konuşma metni. Gülağ Öz, a.g.e. s.22. Erdoğan Alkan, Kör Oldum Veysel Oldum, E Yayınları İstanbul 1991

Publication and censorship

Veysel was also heavily involved in Community Centers (

Halkevleri Halkevleri (Turkish: ''Halkevi'' literally meaning "people's houses", also translatable as "community centres") is a Turkish community enlightenment project. They were founded in 1932 and entirely abolished in 1951. Background The Turkish Repub ...

) during this period. From 1932, these centers, which aimed to consolidate and reexamine the full corpus of Turkish culture, history, language, and economy, dealt extensively with research into Turkish folk music and literature. Many prominent folk poets, including Veysel, were featured in their publications. Veysel's first book, a poetry anthology entitled ''Sayings'' (Turkish: Deyişler), was prepared by Tecer and published by the Community Center Headquarters in 1944, and many of his most well-known poems were also released in the magazine Ülkü, including ''Black Earth'' (Kara Toprak); ''If You Are a Gazelle, I am a Hunter'' (Sen Bir Ceylan Olsan Ben de Bir Avcı); ''If I Pour My Troubles into the Deep Stream'' (Derdimi Dökersem Derin Dereye); ''Letter'' (Mektup), and others. Whilst Veysel initially approved of the Community Centers' work, by the 1950s, it was no longer safe to make social or political criticisms in Turkey. Many of Veysel's poems were

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

without his knowledge. One of Veysel's social critiques, ''Address to God'' (Tanrı'ya Hitap), opening with the line ''"Memleketi gören sensin"'' (You are the one who sees this country), was changed to "you are the one who sees this world", without Veysel's prior approval. From May 14 of that year, Veysel's work was no longer published by Ülkü magazine. Veysel himself also heavily disapproved of any form of censorship. He appeared in a 1953 dramatization of his own life, The Dark World (''Karanlık Dünya''), directed by Metin Erksan, shot in and around Sivrialan and rural Sivas. The film's screening permit was withheld for unfavourably depicting the conditions of Turkish peasant life, especially after the reforms of the Democrat Party, and Erksan was forced to reshoot these scenes in another town. The film's ending was rewritten to show Veysel returning to Sivrialan with his guide, Erkılıç, after a long time away, only to discover with astonishment that the village had been modernized, and now made use of

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

s and

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s. In protest, Veysel did not attend the film's premiere. According to his son, Ahmet, Veysel later recalled the film with amusement; he did not think anyone would seriously believe that the film depicted the real Sivrialan, nor did he believe that censoring the village had contributed anything towards improving it. In 1957, Veysel was visited in Sivrialan by the French writer

Alain Gheerbrant Alain Gheerbrant (27 December 1920 – 21 February 2013) was a French writer, editor, poet and explorer, noted for his expedition in the basins of Amazonian rivers. Career Alain Gheerbrant was the first avant-garde publisher, founder of the p ...

, who made several

field recording Field recording is the production of audio recordings outside recording studios, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It can also include the recording of electromagnetic fields or vibrations using diff ...

s of Veysel playing the saz. The recordings are noted for showcasing Veysel playing in a manner more akin to the Alevi style. Veysel Erkılıç is also heard accompanying him on several tracks. The recordings, including Veysel's famous ''Kara Toprak,'' and an extensive improvised prelude on the saz, were compiled in Gheerbrant's album ''Voyages D'Alain Gheerbrant En Anatolie (1956-1957)''. Gheerbrant's work now constitutes some of the highest-quality recordings of Veysel available.

Later years: 1946–1970

Having left the Village Institute at Ladik in 1946, Veysel decided to establish an apple orchard in Sivrialan. This idea was met with scorn from his fellow villagers (who frequently underestimated Veysel because he was blind). Veysel, however, carried out the work anyway with the help of his brother Ali, in 1949. The plan was successful. Veysel's initiative went on to be copied across Şarkışla, and apples from his orchard were sold as "Aşık Veysel's apples".

Commemoration

In 1952, a jubilee was held for Veysel in

under the leadership of İhsan Hınçer, of the Turkish folklore Research Journal, and with the support of a range of institutions and organizations. Notables in the folklore scene, including Tecer, gave speeches on various aspects of Veysel and his work, and presented some of his poems. A similar jubilee was also held in Ankara in the same year. Veysel's name was also passed on to ophthalmologists in Istanbul. Having been blind for 51 years, Veysel was approached once again with the offer of cataract surgery. However, Veysel now declined the offer. When asked why, he stated that he had built his own world in his head, and feared that being able to see again would destroy his inner world. Veysel later wrote a poem, ''Bir Küçük Dünyam var Içimde Benim'' (I Have a Little World Inside Me), explaining that his own patriotism, determination, and inner world were enough for him, with the only regret being that his blindness had prevented him from joining the military 38 years before. On November 4, 1960, Veysel's regular travelling companion, Veysel Erkılıç ("Little Veysel"), died of a sudden heart attack. Erkılıç had by then been Veysel's guide for just over 20 years. Âşık Veysel, who had been attending a wedding at the time the death was announced, was heard to say in grief, "Now I'm blind". Veysel proceeded at once to Erkılıç's home. He hugged Erkılıç's sister, composed an

elegiac The adjective ''elegiac'' has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to something of, relating to, or involving, an elegy or something that expresses similar mournfulness or sorrow. Second, it can refer more specifically to poetry composed in ...

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

on the spot, then broke down and "sobbed like a child". Despite the loss, Veysel's family agreed that Veysel should continue travelling, but should on no account travel alone. Thenceforth, Veysel's last travelling companion became his oldest son, Ahmet Şatıroğlu. Ahmet travelled with his father to Çankaya in 1965 to meet the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

Cemal Gürsel Cemal Gürsel (9 June 1894 – 14 September 1966) was a Turkish military officer and politician who was the fourth president of Turkey, serving from 1960 to 1966 after taking power in a coup d'état. Early life Gürsel was born in the town ...

, where Veysel read him poems on solidarity and unity. Gürsel not only attended a jubilee held for Veysel, held in Kızılay in April of that year, but also awarded him a lifetime

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

"for his services to our mother tongue and national unity, from the national service scheme for as long as he lives". This pension awarded him a salary of 500

a month. This was the first time such an award had been granted to any Turkish citizen. From the 28th to 30 October 1967, the Second Sivas Folk Poets Festival was held in

. Veysel attended, at the age of 73, this time as its oldest and most highly regarded participant, in the capacity of a member of the jury.

Final years: 1970–1973

Veysel struggled with ill health towards the last 10 years of his life, and came to Istanbul with Ahmet in 1961, for medical attention. According to his biographer Ahmet Özdemir, Veysel was now visibly old and exhausted. He made fewer appearances, though he continued to give informal, short performances, and appeared as a guest of honour at a minstrels' festival in Istanbul in July 1971. He gave his last concert in

Hacıbektaş Hacıbektaş (historically Sulucakarahöyük) is a town and district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Hacıbektaş District. The audience called for ''Kara Toprak'' ("Black Earth")''.'' According to Ahmet, Veysel replied, "Dear audience, I already have a handful of earth. It will cover me, what can I give you?" Veysel began to recite "Kara Toprak", but was unable to complete the song. He exited the stage early and fell ill the next morning. In late 1971, Veysel began to receive treatment at the Sivas Numune hospital. Reportedly, when a doctor asked for permission to examine Veysel's heart, Veysel had replied, "Examine me from head to toe, but leave my heart to me. There are secret things there that belong to me. saidyou will see them." By 1972, Veysel's health had begun to rapidly worsen. He spent time in various hospitals, where he was eventually diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. In the same year, Veysel was approached by an official delegation from Sivas, headed by former senator Hüseyin Öztürk, with the proposal to establish an association in his name. Veysel was allegedly not very warm to the idea. He only agreed on the condition that the association would be strictly non-political, would establish

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s for poor students, and establish educational institutions in his name.

Death

By January 1973, Veysel realized that he was dying. He refused to stay in hospital, opting instead to return to Sivrialan to die. News that Veysel was in his final days soon spread through the country, and Veysel was frequently visited by friends and family, as well as fans. He was also visited by Celal Kayakan, then the Governor of Sivas, who asked if Veysel had any last wishes; Veysel requested that a bridge be built over the

Kızılırmak River The Kızılırmak (, Turkish language, Turkish for "Red River"), once known as the Halys River () and Alis River, is the longest river flowing entirely within Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation. Geogra ...

, located not far from Sivrialan, whose frequent flooding and rapid waters had long posed a significant danger to the local community. Shortly before he died, Veysel also requested that he be buried in the field where his mother had given birth to him, on open ground, so that the land could continue to be used for agriculture and for the environment. He passed away in his sleep at 3.30 AM on March 21, 1973. According to Veysel's wishes, his body was kept at home for a day, before being buried in Ayipınarı, where he was born. Veysel's funeral, held on March 22, was attended by thousands. The funeral procession was led by Veysel's grandson, bearing his grandfather's saz, and Veysel's voice, reciting his poem ''Let My Friends Remember Me'' (Dostlar Beni Hatırlasın) was played from a

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

carried by his youngest son Bahri.

Aftermath and legacy

Within a day of Veysel's death, a

death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead or be used for creation of portraits. The m ...

of his face was made, with the permission of Veysel's family, by Ahmet Özdemir and two colleagues, who hoped to buy the mask and use it to make commemorative statues of Veysel. Özdemir, who had not performed the procedure before, had difficulty removing the mask, and Veysel's eyebrows, lashes, and moustache got stuck to the plaster. Veysel's son, Bahri Şatıroğlu, exclaimed in distress: "Poor father. Even in death, they still torment you." News of Veysel's death quickly spread across the country. The Turkish newspaper

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

raised 335,000 lira for Veysel, of which 200,000 were used to build a statue of him, with the remaining money going to the Sivrialan school. In 1982, based on an initiative by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

, Veysel's house in Sivrialan was opened to the public as a museum. In 1990, the

Cabinet of Turkey The Cabinet of Turkey () or Presidential Cabinet () is the body that advises the President of Turkey on executive affairs. It is composed of the President, Vice President and the heads of the ministries. After the Council of Ministers was abol ...

granted Veysel's wife, Gülizar, a pension based on national service. In 2000, a compilation album of Âşık Veysel's songs named ''Âşık Veysel Klasikleri'' was released. In 2008, Joe Satriani's album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock featured two songs called ''Âşık Veysel'' and ''Andalusia'', which were dedicated to Âşık Veysel. In the same year, a remixed version of Âşık Veysel's song ''Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım'' was featured as the main theme in a Turkish film series, Gece Gündüz.

Style

Instrumentation

Veysel played both the cura and the bağlama saz, two sizes of the same instrument; he generally played the larger, long-necked bağlama saz, made of

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

wood, and played wıth a cherry wood

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

(which he carved himself). He owned multiple sazı throughout his life. Veysel's very first saz was old and cracked; Ahmet Kutsı Tecer allegedly stated that as a young man, Veysel lost seven instruments when the gendarmerie confiscated and incinerated them; he then lost another when it was broken in a bus accident. Upon his death, Veysel was buried with a saz. One surviving saz came into the possession of Veysel's nephew, who, who later gifted it to a saz maker, Şentürk İyidoğan, in nearby Zara, where Veysel had purchased his first saz in 1928. All of Veysel's songs are ''Türküler'', namely folk songs of Turkish origin, with most of them being ''deyiş'' type songs. Veysel's works generally consist of ''uzun havalar'' and ''kırık havalar'' (consistently rhythmic and irregularly rhythmic/non-rhythmic songs)''.'' His melodies featured a restricted

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

composed in a variety of Turkish makams, including Hüseyni, Uşşak, Hijaz, Rast, Muhayyer, and Karçığar, and used 2/4, 4/4, 5/8, and 7/8

time signatures A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

. Most of his works prominently feature the descending melodic progression found in Turkish makam music. Refrains were ubiquitous in Veysel's poetry, musically characterized by repeating leitmotifs. He played in the

style and used the aşık düzeni ('aşık pattern', sometimes known as 'Veysel pattern'), characterized by less extensive movement across the saz's

fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

Poetry

Veysel's poetic style typified the traditional structures and techniques found in Anatolian folk poetry. Lyrics in his poems are defined by simple, but powerful Turkish, with

stanzas In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

typically arranged into

quatrains A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Gree ...

featuring simple rhyme schemes (typically ABAB,

mâni Mâni is a form of Turkish folk song in quatrains A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civiliza ...

AABA, or monorhymes); to achieve this, Veysel heavily utilized the

agglutinative In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes (word parts), each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglu ...

structure of Turkish, for instance by pairing the same verb conjugations to form couplets. He also relied on broadly repeated refrains interspersed throughout most of his poems. Also typical of Turkish folk poetry, Veysel's poems used

syllabic verse Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed or constrained number of syllables per line, while stress, quantity, or tone play a distinctly secondary role—or no role at all—in the verse structure. It is common in languages that are syllable ...

over prosodic

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

, with each line sharing the same number of

syllables A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

, typically 11 per line, though the number could go up to 13 (e.g. ''Kara Toprak''). As with most folk poems, Veysel tended to finished his poems by adding his name, or a close pseudonym, into his final stanzas. In terms of subject matter, most of Veysel's poems were about nature, love, solidarity, national pride, or life and death, and were informed by Veysel's perception of the world as a blind man. Few of his poems were explicitly political. Despite being a practicing

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, only some of Veysel's poems were explicitly religious in nature, though he frequently alluded to religion in many of his works; once asked why he did not mention Alevism or

Bektashism Bektashism (, ) is a Sufi order of Islam that evolved in 13th-century western Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire. It is named after the ''walī'' "saint" Haji Bektash Veli, with adherents called Bektashis. The Bektashi co ...

(it was impossible to tell which Veysel was from his poems alone), Veysel replied, "If you listen to my songs with your heart's eye, you will understand what I am talking about. If you don't have eyes to see, what shall I do?" In the aşık tradition, a large number of Veysel's poems were taken from popular folk legends, with the stories used as a vehicle for Veysel to discuss his own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions (e.g. Mecnunum Leylamı Gördüm';'' I'm Mecnun, I Saw My Layla').

Views

Environmentalism

Veysel was a lifelong

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and agrarian. These aspects form one of the most notable themes in his work and interviews, and one of Veysel's most famous poems, ''Black Earth'' (Kara Toprak), is exemplary for its reflection of Veysel's love of the natural environment. Most of his other poems had the beauty of nature as a central theme, with many of them dedicated to the landscape around Veysel's native

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and Sivrialan. Another expression of this is found in the apple orchard Veysel established in Sivrialan in 1949. He spent most of his childhood and almost all of his adult life entrusted with the care of the family garden, being unable to carry out farming activities due to his blindness, and found solace there when he was left behind at the outbreak of the

and

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

. When asked what he liked to do when at home, Veysel's first response was that he spent time in his garden or orchard. His wife Gulizar also noted that Veysel "liked to find red and green with his hands". Veysel's garden, located in the new house he had built in Sivrialan, was frequently remarked upon by visitors as being of exceptional beauty, and Veysel passed most of his time cultivating it, giving away much of its

produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...

to his fellow villagers for free. One of his last wishes was to be buried in the

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

where he was born, without a

headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...

, so that his gravesite could be left open for grazing. Although he was a strong environmentalist throughout his life, Veysel also actively encouraged

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

and technological development. Born a child of the late 19th century, raised in poverty in a remote Anatolian village, and denied a formal education due to his own blindness, Veysel lived through a period of immense political change in Turkey, experiencing rapid technological advancement and total social and political upheaval. The hardships of his own life and his patriotism for his country meant that Veysel welcomed any change that he thought was beneficial to social development. He was, however, not strictly a romantic, as there is no evidence that he believed technology and the environment were inherently opposed. Rather, Veysel frequently used his poetry to call his audience—many of whom were poor villagers benefiting from the first public education programs in Turkey—to use their education to pursue science and innovation. He himself made frequent use of many technologies that were almost entirely new to him, most commonly the

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

. He also kept a radio at home, of which he was reportedly very fond. Veysel was also enthusiastic about

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

s and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, despite being blind, believing that it was important that people knew not only what he sounded like, but also what he looked like. He preferred his photos to show him smiling. Finally, Veysel had an intense curiosity for most technologies, almost all of which he had never seen before going blind; he was once observed enthusiastically examining a

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

with his hands, laughing to himself. One of the most financially well-off in his home village of Sivrialan, it was Veysel who paid to bring electricity to Sivrialan, making it the first village in the local area to have access to electricity.

Humanism

In the highly religiously charged environment of 20th century Turkey, Veysel remained a strong

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

throughout his life. He continually championed cooperation and unity across all nationalities, social classes, and sects. He was, however, not a strict

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

. He openly and frequently expressed his desire to fight for Turkey in the First World War and War of Independence, sentiments which were reflected in his poems.

Politics

Veysel was a staunch

throughout his life, as well as an ardent supporter of

. Veysel had grown up in a largely underdeveloped region, in abject poverty, blind and uneducated, reaching his majority with the end of the

. A firm

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

, Veysel's greatest wish as a young man was to fight for his nation in the First World War and the War of Independence. He welcomed most of Atatürk's reforms with open arms. Mindful of his own illiteracy, of which he expressed some bitterness, Veysel was particularly approving of the increased education opportunities which Atatürk brought to Turkey's most impoverished regions. Veysel kept a large portrait of Atatürk in his home in Sivrialan. Despite his strongly nationalistic views, most of Veysel's poetry continued to focus on nature and pastoralism as core themes, a decision for which he was occasionally criticized; his poems for Atatürk, despite constituting some of his best known work, were exceptional in their focus, rather than the norm. Following the 1961 constitution, when many minstrels transitioned to performing

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

political poems, Veysel continued not to compose such poetry. When asked why by a friend, Veysel replied, "I'm blind, if I veer left and right and don't walk straight, I will fall into a pit."

Music

The saz and folk music naturally formed a central part of Veysel's life. Born into an

village, Veysel grew up in a community who expressed spiritual connection through music, particularly through the saz, and Veysel also nursed a love for his art and his instrument throughout his life. When his saz was broken in a bus accident on the way to a concert, Veysel famously wrote a poem for his instrument with the lines: ''If I go, my instrument, you stay in this world/ Don't divulge my hidden secrets/ As I remember my father, you remember your master.'' Even when a new saz was immediately made for him, when asked how he was finding the new saz after a year with it, Veysel still mourned his old instrument, stating "I have got used to it, but it hasn't gotten used to me." In another poem, Veysel said of his instrument: ''You'' y saz''are like a flower, Veysel is a bee/ We would get down and make honey together.'' He famously wore it slung over his shoulder like a

, homage to the fact that he had not been able to fight in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

or the

. According to his daughter, Veysel would also stay awake into the early hours of the morning, sitting in the dark, and play saz all night while he hummed to himself; his daughter thought he was ill, though in reality, Veysel was just composing poetry. By his own admission, he would do this until he lost his voice, as it made him forget about his own blindness, and allowed him to put his troubles aside. Days before his death in March 1973, Veysel asked for his saz and kissed it goodbye. He was buried with the instrument, though he in fact owned several of them, one of which was donated to a museum by his son Bahri. As one of the most well-respected musicians in Turkey, Veysel was frequently asked for his opinions of folk music and other artists. A non-confrontational man by nature, he was hesitant to name anyone whose work he actively disliked, stating, "I cannot say Ibrahim is good whilst Mehmet is bad." He did, however, hold some in particularly high esteem, especially Hidir Dede, a Sivrialan-born saz player with whom Veysel was a contemporary, and to whom Veysel attributed much of his own skill. By contrast, he was more critical of Western music, especially adaptations of his own work into the Western tradition. He expressed a quiet, albeit clear, disapproval of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of his songs scored to European

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s and traditionally European instruments. He was, however, apparently tolerant in his opinion; Veysel was a longtime friend of the multi-instrumentalist and rock musician

Fikret Kızılok Fikret Kızılok (10 November 1946 – 22 September 2001) was a Turkish rock musician. He was a pioneer of Anatolian rock, a prolific songwriter, impresario, multi-instrumentalist, and an early experimentalist. Due to a heart disease, he died ...

, who had visited Sivrialan to ask for Veysel's blessing to cover his song

. Veysel apparently granted it, because Kızılok released a version in 1969, played in

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

style to a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. Veysel also gave Kızılok saz lessons. Veysel similarly was not keen on translations of his poems (at the time, primarily into European languaes), implying that he felt they separated his work from its connection to Turkey and its people, and that his poems ought to be read only in Turkish, stating: "Must they be changed?". Veysel's opinion that folk music was intrinsically and inseparably connected to the land even extended into Turkish music played on Turkish instruments, by Turkish musicians; once asked to listen to another musician play a folk song on the saz, Veysel commented that whilst the song was still beautiful, it had been removed from its homeland in the country, and therefore had undergone an inherent change of which he did not implicitly approve.

Life and death

Veysel's attitude towards death was relatively light. He was quoted as saying, "Why should I be afraid of death? Death is my friend." However, although he frequently reflected on the subject in his work, and although a large portion of his works were pessimistic, Veysel did not reflect this in his day-to-day life. He was often asked about his health, to which he was known to reply, as if he had misunderstood, "I don't have a watch." His friend, Erdoğan Alkan, once asked him where he wanted to be buried, to which Veysel replied, "I'm not dead yet. I'll think about it when I die!" Veysel was asked the same question again, also on his deathbed, and ended up caught in an argument with his younger son, Bahri, who insisted that Veysel should choose to be buried nearer the village, instead of in the pasture where he had been born. Veysel ended the argument, stating, "Don't talk nonsense. Am I going to be buried or you?" He was eventually interred in the Ayipınarı pasture. His children were later buried there as well; Veysel's son Bahri joined him there in September 2021.

Personal life

Family

Through his marriage to Esma, Veysel had two children, a son and a daughter; Veysel's son, Ali, died ten days after birth, and his daughter, Elif, died aged two. The marriage lasted for 8 years. Through his second wife, Gülizar, Veysel had seven children, three sons and four daughters; Zöhre Beşer, Ahmet, Hüseyin, Menekşe Süzer, Bahri, Zekine, and Hayriye Özer. Their son, Hüseyin, died in childhood; his birth and death dates are not known. Gülizar and Veysel were happily married until Veysel's death in 1973. Gülizar passed away on 29 October 1991, at the age of 105. She and Veysel are survived by 22 grandchildren. Through his brother, Ali, Veysel had three nieces and one nephew.

Blindness

Veysel was born with black eyes, which he described as being "beautiful as black grapes". Descriptions of the medical particulars of Veysel's blindness are scant. His own description of how he lost his eyesight ("leaking" in his left eye; gradual, late-onset blindness in the right, caused by the strain of the left) suggests that his blindness was a combination of

corneal ulcer Corneal ulcer, often resulting from keratitis is an inflammatory or, more seriously, infective condition of the cornea involving disruption of its epithelial layer with involvement of the corneal stroma. It is a common condition in humans part ...

and

sympathetic ophthalmia Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO), also called spared eye injury, is a diffuse granulomatous inflammation of the uveal layer of both eyes following trauma to one eye. It can leave the affected person completely blind. Symptoms may develop from days to s ...

. Veysel kept his eyes closed at all times, even when walking. His condition presented him with unique difficulties throughout his life. Veysel was ostracized as a child due to his blindness, and never attended school. As a young man, he frequently seemed bitter about his condition; in addition to being left out of fighting in the 1910s, anecdotal evidence suggests that Veysel was often given to suspicion and jealousy. His first wife, Esma, alleged that Veysel was jealous of her, because Esma had been described to him as very beautiful, and yet Veysel could not see her; this is corroborated by their acquaintance, Veysel Kaymak. The 25 year-old Veysel would allegedly conduct bizarre experiments to test Esma's loyalty, or make baseless accusations against her; she also described him as "very grumpy". In 1940, when Veysel was 46, his money was stolen in a hotel in Tarsus--Veysel suspected his roommate, his cousin İbrahim, despite having no evidence. They fell out and never travelled together again. Once asked what his greatest wish was, Veysel responded that he wished to meet President Atatürk; he expressed bitterness that Atatürk's photograph, which was widely available, was inaccessible to him, and that he wanted to hear the president's voice. Atatürk died before Veysel could ever meet him, for which the latter expressed lifelong regret. The depression Veysel felt at his blindness was also expressed in several of his poems. Having never learned to read or write, Veysel composed all of his poetry in his head. Once composed, he would have someone write his poems down. Veysel's descriptions of colours and physical form were mostly not drawn from his own experiences, as he had gone blind early enough that his visual memory was unreliable. In a 1969 interview with Erdoğan Alkan, Veysel stated that he only remembered the colours

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

. He remembered black from

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

, and red from the hand he had bloodied after having fallen in the mud, just before going blind. He also recalled red from a newspaper or

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the Childbirth, birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation ...

he had once seen his father holding. However, Veysel still had isolated memories from before the age of 7; for instance, he could remember the location of a random boulder at the end of the road in the village. Practically, Veysel was only able to move truly independently in his home village of Sivrialan. He relied on a number of travel companions throughout his life, first his cousin İbrahim, then his friend Veysel Erkilic, and finally his son Ahmet. Veysel would typically get around by holding onto a guide's arm. Independently, Veysel walked with a cane, usually a regular

walking stick A walking stick (also known as a walking cane, cane, walking staff, or staff) is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion acces ...

. He is shown holding a slim staff more akin to a modern

white cane A white cane is a device used by many people who are visual impairment, blind or visually impaired. A white cane primarily allows its user to scan their surroundings for obstacles or orientation marks, but is also helpful for onlookers in identif ...

in a photograph from the First Sivas Poets' Festival in 1931, and Veysel was photographed using a regular long cane; he used a normal walking stick in a similar manner in archival footage. However, textual evidence suggests that it was unusual for Veysel to rely on

mobility aid A mobility aid is a device designed to assist individuals with impaired movement. These devices help people walk, maintain balance, or get around more easily. Mobility aids include walking supports like canes, crutches, and walkers for those w ...

s. Once in Istanbul, hearing that Atatürk was to give a speech on the radio, Veysel took to the streets on his own to try and find a radio broadcasting the speech. He "walked about, bumping into things, bumping into things", but ended up totally lost. He later discovered that he had not only missed the speech, but had wandered all the way out of the city and into the countryside. Over the years, Veysel's other senses compensated for his blindness, a common experience for the blind. Veysel was able to differentiate people by their breath, footsteps, and smell, even from far away, and could call each individual by name. He liked to feel the faces of unfamiliar people, and could differentiate hundreds of individuals by voice. At home, Veysel was able to tell the time with a

margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in the results of a Statistical survey, survey. The larger the margin of error, the less confidence one should have that a poll result would reflect the result of ...

of about 30 minutes or less, presumably by listening to the ticking of the clock he kept on the wall (he also kept a

pocket watch A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatches became popula ...

, though it is uncertain how he used it). He was able to cross the village without ever getting his shoes muddy. His wife Esma stated that Veysel could pull a snake out of a hole using nothing but sound. He once teased a friend whose car had broken down with a scathing poem, in which Veysel pointed out that the friend was tall. The latter was surprised and asked how Veysel could have known this, to which the poet replied simply: "When you talk, your voice comes from above." He had an extraordinary working memory and memorized all his poems, including the voices of all his students at the Village Institutes (he knew which students were absent, where each was sitting, and whose technique required correction, even if the student had not spoken). Veysel's senses were so accurate that his friends and family were sometimes shocked. He once commissioned new clothes from a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

, and, testing the stitching on the collar, wanted to know why the tailor's stitching was crooked. The tailor was confused until Veysel had him lay hands on the imperfection, which was so subtle that it was invisible to the eye. Commissioning a new house from a mason, he was able to find a loose brick by touch alone. He was also able to tell, by sound, whether or not someone was in his garden; not simply who the individual was, but also what had been taken, in what quantity, and even whether the produce was ripe or not. In this way, he was able to avoid people taking advantage of his blindness; a boy in the village, deciding to test Veysel, once laid down in front of his donkey just as Veysel was coming down the road. Veysel not only asked him to get out of the way thrice, but was able to reprimand the boy by name. His own children were unable to sneak past him without being identified.

Relationships

With Esma

The nature of the relationship between Veysel and his first wife is controversial. However, most accounts agree that there was definite animosity between Veysel and Esma, even while they were still married. The final straw was the relationship between Esma and her second husband. Schoolteacher Veysel Kaymak, who lived in Sivrialan from 1967 to 1977, was acquainted with both parties, and heard an account of Esma's marriage with Veysel from her perspective. Kaymak reports that Veysel was allegedly jealous, mostly because he was physically unable to see his wife. Veysel would reportedly test Esma's loyalty by hiding an apple under her pillow, then when the time came, ask Esma who had put it there. He would secretly throw stones into the chimney in order to judge what Esma's reaction would be. In an interview with Veysel's friend Erdoğan Alkan, Esma alleged that Veysel used to beat her. Researcher Gülağ Öz, who also lived in Sivrialan, recorded similar sentiments in an interview with Esma, who stated: "Veysel was very grumpy. He wouldn't give me a living and was always jealous. I didn't marry with my heart anyway."Öz, Gülağ (1994). Bütün Yönleriyle Âşık Veysel Yaşamı Sanatı Şiirleri. Ankara: Ayyıldız. According to Esma, Veysel's mood alienated her from him, and she would seek out their neighbour, Hüseyin, for consolation. Veysel sensed what was happening, even suspecting that Esma would run away, and apparently warned her against Hüseyin on multiple occasions, though Esma admitted that "I told him eyselhow could he think of such a thing." Esma, ultimately, did elope with Hüseyin. Veysel also suggested some longstanding animosity towards Esma, though he was either evasive of questions, or was more implicit. In 1967, interviewer İbrahim Aslanoğlu asked Veysel if he was married. Of his response, Aslanoğlu noted: "He eyselspeaks gently and with a full voice. He pretends not to understand the question he does not want to answer. He brushes it off with 'I don't know, I don't know, I didn't hear'. It seems that he does not want to delve into the issue of marriage today."Aslanoğlu, İbrahim (1967). Âşık Veysel. İlavelerle İkinci Baskı. Sivas: Ata Kitabevi. Bekki (2021) notes that Veysel never spoke much about his marriages in general. The only exception was in an interview with folklorist Ahmet Günbulut. In this interview, Veysel admitted to sensing the affair. Veysel recounted that at the time, the housework was Esma and Hüseyin's job, whilst Veysel himself was in charge of the garden and hay threshing; Esma and Hüseyin's relationship meant that all the housework fell apart. In Veysel's words, "I had an old pistol from my father. I got it ready. I though I should finish them off. Now the winter preparations are over, the cold has started. But I couldn't manage to settle the matter." Veysel referred to his first marriage again, more implicitly, in one poem, writing "the cruel infidel made my lamb an orphan." Whilst the "infidel" is not named, Bekki (2021) interpreted this to refer to Esma. However, Veysel also wrote other poems in which he described his marriage to Esma in positive terms. Veysel wrote that whilst he loved Esma, Esma did not love him back, and she conversely thought he was "crazy". Incidentally, this is where Esma and Veysel's accounts both agree; Esma characterized Veysel in exactly this way in a later interview. Following their separation, tension between Esma and Veysel cooled, though their remained some mixed feelings. On one hand, Veysel reportedly would pass by Esma's house on multiple occasions, in the hope of meeting her. According to Veysel's daughter Hayrire Özer, Veysel's only question, when Esma returned to Sivrialan with her new husband, was if Esma needed anything, and he allegedly would continue to ask. Özer also related a time when Esma had had a headache, and knocked on the door to Veysel's house, asking if Hayrire would ask Veysel for some medicine. On hearing this, Veysel reached into his pocket and placed an

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

in Hayrire's palm, saying only that Esma's pain would grow worse. Conversely, Esma stated that Veysel never visited or came to see her and Hüseyin. She herself spent her life tormented by her decision to leave Veysel. Once, going to the shop for groceries, Esma saw Veysel inside, and refused to go in. She instead directed a helper to buy the groceries for her by making signs outside the window, leaving without saying a word. Veysel had been in the midst of a conversation with the shopkeeper. Asking who else had gone into the store, the shopkeeper lied--presumably to avoid any awkwardness--and told Veysel that no one had come in. Veysel continued to insist otherwise. The conversation was joined by another man, visiting from a nearby village, who told Veysel, "Şatıroğlu, you are deceiving us, you cannot be blind, how would you know, how would you know?" Veysel, who had been getting steadily more and more upset, finally struck the table with his hand and cried, "because of the smell, the smell!" Veysel had recognized the scent of Esma's perfume. In person, however, he was decidedly colder to Esma; Esma once walked past his house and saw Veysel in the garden, eating grapes. Esma allegedly asked Veysel what he was eating, to which Veysel replied, "can't you see that I'm eating grapes?" Esma then asked if she could have one. Veysel, who was known to give away his own produce for free, retorted that if Esma wanted produce from his house, then she should have stayed in it. In Veysel's final days, on learning that her first husband was on his deathbed, Esma came to Veysel's house, wishing say goodbye to him. Veysel's daughter Hayrire again went to her father, who gave his permission. However, Esma did not have the courage to enter Veysel's room, saying: "I made that man suffer a lot, and God made me miserable. How dare I say goodbye to him?" She then fled the house. Esma died shortly after Veysel. Gülizar, Veysel's second wife, was "never jealous of Esma", and was kind to her, despite both women's disparate views towards Veysel.

Other companions

Âşık "Cort" İbrahim Tutuş (b. 1892) was Veysel's cousin, the son of his aunt. He was Veysel's closest friend and first traveling companion. From 1927 to 1940, İbrahim and Veysel travelled together across the country, appearing in several interviews and press releases together, as well as making several joint records. He was also the man chosen by Veysel to escort Gülizar to Sivrialan. Despite being two years older, İbrahim was typically perceived as being his cousin's junior, both in age and profession, and tended to default to Veysel in interviews and public appearances. Because Veysel was blind, İbrahim also acted as his guide and assistant. Veysel affectionately referred to İbrahim as "gözlerim" ("my eyes"). İbrahim and Veysel had a falling out in Tarsus in 1940, after which İbrahim's name disappears from the historical record. Âşık "Küçük" Veysel Erkılıc (b. 1908) was Veysel's travelling companion from 1940. Also an ashik, he shared Âşık Veysel's name and had a singing voice that was "indistinguishable" from Âşık Veysel's; as such, Erkılıc's nickname was "Little Veysel". He died from a heart attack in 1960. Ahmet Şatıroğlu (b. 1934) was Veysel's eldest son, later his travelling companion after the death of Veysel Erkılıc. Ahmet accompanied Veysel to many Village Institutes, even feeding his father on several occasions. He died in 2018.

Personality

In the highly charged religious and political environment of 20th century Turkey, Veysel was particularly noted for his

philosophy. He spent much of his life experiencing prejudice both in Sivrialan and throughout Anatolia, for various reasons; his status as an

Muslim, his profession, poverty, and blindness, were only a few of the criticisms directed at Veysel throughout his lifetime. Perhaps because of his own suffering, Veysel constantly encouraged cooperation and friendship between all social classes and sects. In a conversation where he was warned to speak carefully, due to the arrival of two

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslims (Veysel and the others present were

Sufis Sufism ( or ) is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from , ), and ...

), Veysel grew angry and insisted on the equal treatment of all those present. Although he was himself a Muslim, Veysel also did not make distinctions between those of other religions, and treated them the same. Despite holding strong views, Veysel disliked conflict. He either avoided or ignored it when he came across it in his travels, and generally responded to criticism with silence. In one notable incident, at the Gülköy Village Institute in 1944, Veysel was working as a saz instructor alongside another aşık, İhsan Ozanoğlu. Ozanoğlu challenged Veysel to a

flyting Flyting or fliting ( Classical Gaelic: ''immarbág'', , "counter-boasting") is a contest consisting of the exchange of insults between two parties, often conducted in verse. Etymology The word ''flyting'' comes from the Old English verb meanin ...

match. Veysel declined, suggesting that he did not know how to compose in the suggested style; however, it is almost certain that he simply did not want to participate, rather than because he lacked the actual skill. The match took place anyway, with Veysel appearing very physically uncomfortable, and responding to Ozanoğlu's attacks with difficulty. Both men derided the other's appearance, with Ozanoğlu mocking Veysel's blindness, and Veysel ridiculing Ozanoğlu for his

myopia Myopia, also known as near-sightedness and short-sightedness, is an eye condition where light from distant objects focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry, while close objects appear normal. ...

and short height (it is presumable that Veysel's son Ahmet must have told his father what Ozanoğlu looked like). Veysel ended the flyte after only six

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

s of invective exchange, and never participated again in another such match.

Humour

Popular perception of Veysel, both during and after his lifetime, conceived of the minstrel as a retreating and melancholic figure. In reality, Veysel was described in closer circles as being a quick witted and cheerful person. Accounts of the more mischievous side of Veysel's personality were brought to light after his death. In one, Veysel was caught in a debate that had broken out over the

miniskirt A miniskirt (or mini-skirt, mini skirt, or mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a dress with such a hemline is called a minidress or a miniskirt ...

, a new fashion at the time. Some thought it excessive; others argued that it was a personal choice. Veysel interrupted the argument, saying, "what is this you are describing, at least let me feel it with my hand," and grabbed the leg of the miniskirt-wearing woman sitting beside him, to the amusement of those present. In another anecdote, the winner of the local

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

had made a visit to Sivrialan, Veysel's village. Veysel called the beauty to him and made as if to say something in her ear. When she bent down, he kissed her on the cheek. In the ensuing hilarity, Veysel laughed and responded, "bless my eyes, I did nothing." He frequently swore on his eyes for comedic effect, usually finishing anecdotes with a variation of, "If I am lying, may I be blind in both eyes." Veysel also liked to

smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...

(he smoked

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

) and drink

rakı Rakı, Türk Rakısı or Turkish Raki (, Turkish pronunciation: ) is an alcoholic beverage made of twice-distilled grape pomace and flavored with aniseed. It is a national drink of Turkey, although fewer than 17% of Turks drink alcohol. Among ...

. He coughed a lot, and was once told that smoking was the cause, to which he replied, "I know, I know. Isn't the point of smoking to cough, anyway?" His wife Gulizar also scolded him for drinking whilst he was in recovery for stomach surgery (Veysel had promised to quit alcohol). When caught, he told his wife, "I quit and now I am celebrating." Other jokes of which Veysel was fond, were frequently used when he had been engaged to play at concerts or as mealtime entertainment, typically to ward off any potential awkwardness. If he thought a conversation had been going on for too long, Veysel was fond of indicating it by saying, "we ate and drank and the saz died of hunger." If he thought his audience was being too noisy, he would pretend to listen his saz's

sound box A sound box or sounding box (sometimes written soundbox) is an open chamber in the body of a musical instrument which modifies the sound of the instrument, and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vibr ...

, remarking, "is this noise coming from the saz?" Veysel was also occasionally asked about his playing style; he used the "Aşık Düzeni" (Aşık Pattern) of playing, instead of the more widespread "Normal Düzeni" (Normal Pattern), the former of which involved less extensive movement along the saz's

. In response, Veysel replied, "I have found the right place, why would I leave it? The others are still looking for the place I found." He used jokes like these to avoid controversy, though not always; he once spent so long tuning his saz that a member of the audience asked him to hurry up. Indicating his instrument, Veysel retorted, "if we don't turn its ear once in a while, it becomes out of tune, just like you!" Veysel often made jokes about his blindness. A friend of his, Veysel Kaymak, recorded him as saying, "stand away from the blind man, when he waves his cane, he will hit you!" He also used similar jokes when his companions forgot that Veysel was blind; in another incident, Âşık Veysel and a companion, Kul Ahmet, were travelling to

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

. Kul Ahmet caught sight of a

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...

that was featured in the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

legend of

Khosrow and Shirin ''Khosrow and Shirin'' () is a romantic Epic poetry, epic poem by the Persians, Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209). It is the second work of his set of five poems known collectively as Khamsa of Nizami, ''Khamsa''. It tells a highly el ...

, and asked Veysel "somewhat sarcastically" if Veysel saw the rocks too, to which Veysel replied drily, "I'm not blind, Kul Ahmet, of course I see them." Although he typically did not take offence to such mistakes, this was not always the case; a neighbour once visited Veysel in the hospital, and insisted on speaking to him excessively loudly. When the neighbour had left, Veysel remarked, "I knew I was blind, but I just learned I was deaf." He was otherwise happy to poke fun at himself. In an anecdote recalled by his friend Erdoğan Alkan, Alkan had been lighting a

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

for Veysel. Out of habit, Alkan asked Veysel if the cigarette was lit. Veysel laughed, replying, "why are you asking me? Check the tip of my nose. If there is smoke, it's lit." Another incident involving Alkan saw Veysel and his son Ahmet having dinner in Alkan's home. Alkan served them a local delicacy,

bulgur Bulgur (; ; ; ), or Borghol (), is a cracked wheat foodstuff found in Egyptian cuisine, South Asian cuisine and West Asian cuisine. Characteristics Bulgur is distinct from cracked wheat, which is crushed wheat grain that, unlike bulgur, has ...

meatball A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are m ...

s. Veysel took a spoonful and put it in his mouth, only to realize that he had taken three in one go, crying, "I took three meatballs like a blind man!" In a similar incident, he was once at a dinner and was being served

, which Veysel drank by alternating sips of rakı and water. He was handed a glass of water instead of rakı, either on purpose or by accident, and grimaced, asking, "why did you give me the water first?" The person serving him, either his daughter Zöhre or a guest, replied, "I gave it to you and you took it yourself", to which Veysel responded, "I am blind. Are you blind too?" Once handed a sketch of himself and asked by the artist what he thought of it. Veysel commented, "you did very well, but you made my eyes all squinty" (Veysel always had his eyes closed, even when walking). He also liked practical jokes. Alkan reported that Veysel, for a joke, once took four

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s and made a hole in them, eating the insides and leaving the shell apparently whole. Veysel then took the eggs to a neighbour's house to look after. On leaving some time later, Veysel went to take the empty eggs, made a show of breaking them, and pretended the scold the neighbour, insisting, "you gave me empty eggs because I am blind!" Conversely, he was known to occasionally make fun of others for ''not'' being blind; he was once visited at an acquaintance's house by several French ethnomusicologists, escorted by the mayor of

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

. The visitors had plans to stay with one of Veysel's relatives in Sivrialan, so Veysel left with them later that evening. Despite the road, which was unlit, unpaved, unfenced (it had sheer drops on either side), and very muddy, Veysel knew the way very well and was walking at a brisk pace. His companions--who could not see in the dark--fumbled in the mud and called for Veysel to slow down. Unfortunately, Veysel found this deeply amusing. He insisted on keeping the same pace, telling them to make note of where he placed his feet, all while teasing the others ("are you blind?"). At one point, Veysel heard the mayor slip and fall in the mud behind him. Not knowing it was the mayor who had fallen, Veysel cheerily called out: "the first blind man has fallen into the mud!"

Veysel in modern media

Since Veysel's death, modern scholars have criticized the tendency to idolize Veysel, particularly in

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. This has led to extensive dissemination of false information about Veysel's life and character, continuing a misrepresentation of Veysel's personality that was widespread even during his lifetime. His character and works were also subject to state

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, both while he was alive and long after his death. Because of his own fame, other aspects of Veysel's personality went largely ignored in popular culture. The most typically cited example is the legend surrounding Veysel and his first wife, Esma. According to the legend, Veysel was aware that Esma was planning to run away with her lover, and secretly put money in her socks so that she would not be in want. Whilst this story is widespread on social media and in biographies of Veysel, it is demonstrably untrue. Veysel himself was frequently an unreliable source. He could be deliberately evasive in interviews, and would change details of events; there are two versions of the story explaining how he lost the sight in his right eye, both of which originate from Veysel himself. He would switch between both stories throughout his lifetime. It has not been proven which one is true. Veysel also had a suspicious side to his personality that is not well reflected in modern biographies of him. This was first seen in the relationship between Veysel and Esma.

In popular culture

Veysel's life has been depicted in a range of media and literature. His poems and songs have also been extensively adapted an reinterpreted across multiple music genres, and used in a variety of media.

Film

* The Dark World (Turkish: ''Karanlık Dünya'') (1952), directed by Metin Erksan, a biopic based on Veysel's life; Veysel himself, along with his guide Veysel Erkılıç, appear in the latter portion of the film. It was censored due to its unfavourable portrayal of agriculture in Anatolia. * ''Aşık'' (2016), directed by Bilal Babaoğlu and starring Uğur Aslan, also a biopic on Veysel * ''Deine Schönheit ist nichts wert'' (English: ''Your Beauty is Worth Nothing'') (2012), by German director Hüseyin Tabak, a film about a 12-year old Turkish

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

named Veysel, migrating with his family to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Âşık Veysel's eponymous song ''Güzelliğin On Para Etmez'' is also featured in the film.

Television

* Gece Gündüz (2008) featured Veysel's song "

" in its

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

. The show's name (English: Day and Night) is also a reference to the song.

Theater

* ''Âşık Veysel'' (2020), stage play biopic of Veysels life, written by Osman Nuri Ercan

Music

* ''Âşık Veysel'' (2008)'','' song by American guitarist

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

, featured in his 2008 album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock. The track ''Andalusia,'' featured in the same album, was also inspired by Veysel

Family tree

Veysel's family tree is given as follows:

Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım (lyrics)

"Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım" (English: "I'm on a Long and Narrow Road") is one of Veysel's best known works and is still popular among fans of Turkish folk music.

Selected works

* Anlatamam derdimi (5:24) * Arasam seni gül ilen (4:18) * Atatürk'e ağıt (5:21) * Beni hor görme (2:46) * Beş günlük Dünya (3:58) * Bir kökte uzamış (4:55) * Birlik destani (1:42) * Çiçekler (3:05) * Cümle âlem senindir (6:44) * Derdimi dökersem derin dereye (4:51) * Dost çevirmiş yüzünü benden (3:12) * Dost yolunda (4:43) * Dostlar beni hatırlasın (6:02) * Dün gece yar eşiğinde (4:28) * Dünya'ya gelmemde maksat (2:43) * Esti bahar yeli (2:41) * Gel ey âşık (5:35) * Gonca gülün kokusuna (5:24) * Gönül sana nasihatim (6:40) * Gözyaşı armağan (3:32) * Güzelliğin on para etmez (4:31) * Kahpe felek (2:58) * Kara toprak (9:25) * Kızılırmak seni seni (4:58) * Küçük dünyam (5:17) * Murat (5:13) * Ne ötersin dertli dertli (3:05) * Necip (3:16) * Sazım (6:02) * Seherin vaktinde (5:01) * Sekizinci ayın yirmi ikisi (4:43) * Sen varsın (4:01) * Şu geniş Dünya'ya (7:27) * Uzun ince bir yoldayım (2:23) * Yaz gelsin (3:02) * Yıldız (Sivas ellerinde) (3:16)

References

Sources

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External links

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Âşık Veysel's village
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Sivrialan village is Âşık Veysel's hometown
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Âşık Veysel's poems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satiroglu, Asik Veysel 1894 births 1973 deaths People from Şarkışla People from Sivas vilayet Blind musicians Turkish folk poets 20th-century Turkish male singers Turkish Alevis Composers of Ottoman classical music Composers of Turkish makam music Turkish blind people Ashiks Deaths from lung cancer in Turkey Blind poets 20th-century Turkish poets

Family

Childhood: 1894–1906

Birth and naming

Blindness

Introduction to the saz

Early years: 1906–1931

First World War and War of Independence

First marriage

Second marriage

Rise to fame: 1931–1935

Sivas Folk Poets Festival

Ankara

Stardom

Saz instructor: 1941–1946

Village institutes

Publication and censorship

Later years: 1946–1970

Commemoration

Final years: 1970–1973

Death

Aftermath and legacy

Style

Instrumentation

Poetry

Views

Environmentalism

Humanism

Politics

Music

Life and death

Personal life

Family

Blindness

Relationships

With Esma

Other companions

Personality

Humour

Veysel in modern media

In popular culture

Film

Television

Theater

Music

Family tree

Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım (lyrics)

Selected works

See also

References

Sources

External links