Åžakir Deniz also known as Åžakiro (born in 1936 in
EleÅŸkirt
Eleşkirt ( ku, Zêdikan) is a town and district of Ağrı Province in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental c ...
–1996,
Izmir, Turkey), was a
Kurdish Dengbêj
Dengbêj is a Kurdish music genre and/or a singer of the music genre Dengbêj. Dengbêjs are singing storytellers. There have been many terms to describe Dengbêjs throughout history, but today Dengbêj is the best known, and also several singing ...
singer. His songs were often recorded on cassettes and distributed illegally, when the Kurdish language faced limitations in cultural expression in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. He is one of the most prominent figures for Dengbêj in recent times. His and the recordings of other Dengbêjs such as
Karapete Xaco are considered a resource for the ones who also want to become Denbêj singers. He once met such an apprentice and foresaw that he will be seen as a Dengbej who sings in the Şakiro style.
[Hamelink, Wendelmoet (2016),pp.216–217]
Early life
The family of Åžakiro, who were from the Zilan tribe, lived in the village of Qerqa near
Mount Elegez in present-day
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...
before fleeing to the village of Kela Topraqqalê in present-day Eleşkirt district of Turkey, due to the
conflict between the Russian and Ottoman empires.
Şakiro was born officially in 1936 (however it is also possible that he was born in 1931) while he spent most of his youth in nearby Cemalverdî village where he was exposed to Dengbêj songs from an early age.
References
Kurds in Turkey
Kurdish singers
People from Ağrı
1936 births
1996 deaths
{{Turkey-bio-stub