Haluk Levent

Haluk Levent (born Haluk Acil; 26 November 1968) is a Turkish rock music singer who helped revive the long forgotten Anatolian rock genre in the 1990s.

After graduating from high school, he joined various university programs but he had to quit for economic reasons.

Levent moved to Istanbul in 1992. He worked at various bars in Ortaköy until he met with Yildiray Gürgen. He also worked with musicians like Serdar Öztop and Akın Eldes to increase the quality of his albums. In July 1993 he released his first album, ''Yollarda''. Following his first album, his second album ''Bir Gece Vakti'' had sales approaching one million dollars in 1995. In September 1998, he released the album ''Yine Ayrılık''. Following his military service, he released ''Kral Çıplak'' in February 2001, ''Bir Erkeğin Günlüğü'' in October 2002, ''Aç Pencereni'' in September 2004, and ''Annemin Türküleri'' in 2005.

In 2023, Levent was listed as one of ''Time'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. He later said he would not attend the gala due to the criticism aimed at the Turkish government in the entry penned by Elif Shafak.

Music career

In 1992, he went to Istanbul. He worked in different kind of bars in Ortaköy. He met Yıldıray Gürgen. The album work he started in 1990 paid off after three laborious and daunting years. In July 1993, he released the album '' Yollarda''. This album was also one of the first works of the second upswing period of Anatolian rock music after the 70s. In the same year, Moğollar also released a new album after 20 years. Yollarda unexpectedly reached a sales figure of approximately two hundred thousand copies. This seemed to be the first sign that a new lane in the Turkish music market was about to open up and drag millions in its wake.

Following the first album, in October 1995, ''Bir Gece Vakti'' achieved sales of nearly one million. At the very end of 1996, the album ''Arkadaş'' was released. With this album, the artist put his signature under one of the most musically successful examples of Anatolian rock music. The artist says for the album "Arkadaş":
"I reached world standards with this album”.

In August 1997, he was arrested and imprisoned for a bounced check for 3 million liras from ten years ago. He stayed 9 months and 15 days in prison. While in prison, he cut his long hair and sent it to Gülnar to protest the nuclear power plant project. He released the album ''Mektup'' with the recordings he had made before he went to prison. During his years in prison, he wrote his first book, ''Kedi Köprüsü''.

After his release from prison, he had very little time to prepare his new album. Because he was waiting for his 18-month military service. Under these conditions, in September 1998, he released the album ''Yine Ayrılık'' and went into military service. During his military service, he performed concerts in parts of Turkey he had never been to before. He performed concerts all over Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. After the 1999 earthquake, he personally worked in the tent cities established in Izmit and set up tents. He performed concerts for the benefit of earthquake victims. During his military service, he spent all his days off in the studio. At the very beginning of 2000, he released www.leyla.com. In an increasingly digitalized world, he talked about the digitalization of emotions and made a reference to Susurluk with the song "Kamyoncu Türküsü".

He worked with musicians such as Serdar Öztop and Akın Eldes. After his military service, he released his albums ''Kral Çıplak'' in February 2001, ''Bir Erkekeğin Günlüğü'' in October 2002, ''Aç Pencereni'' in September 2004 and ''Annemin Türküleri'' in April 2005. He also published his second book of essays, ''Moritos’un Düşleri''. The artist, who entered the fifteenth year of her artistic life (2005), has performed in approximately ten thousand concerts in Turkey and abroad during these fifteen years. Haluk Levent, who is one of the most frequently performing artists in Turkey, did not receive any money from most of these concerts and donated the proceeds to patients who need. This reason is why he is known as "Benevolent Rocker".

One of his best known songs, "Elfida", is dedicated to a young girl who died of cancer at the age of 9. Beyzanur one of the 16 children with cancer whom Haluk Levent provided healthcare assistance. Unfortunately she died before Haluk Levent finished his song.

At the same time, the artist, who came to the forefront with his sensitivity to environmental problems, included songs to instill environmental awareness in almost every album. He filed lawsuits against projects in different regions of Turkey that were said to harming the environment and intervened in the lawsuit filed. He protested against the extinction of Caretta caretta turtles in Kazanlı in Mersin district. Haluk Levent has a daughter named Ela.

Ahbap

In 2017 he founded the NGO Ahbap which by 2023 was active in 68 cities of Turkey. Following the earthquake in February 2023, his NGO Ahbap assisted the affected which made him very popular among the Turkish society. Campaigns to donate to his NGO instead of to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) of the Turkish Government were organized, as parts of the society did not trust the AFAD to do their work. This then led to pro-Government outlets criticizing Ahbap and Haluk Levent. But after Levent demanded support for both his NGO and AFAD and the famous singer Tarkan came to his support, public opinion changed and ''"AFAD is ours, as is Ahbap"'' became the leading hashtag in Turkey.

Accusations of crypto fraud

In 2024, his name appeared in social media promotions for a blockchain initiative called Nigella World, which allegedly saw its token price collapse soon after the online promotion camping, leaving investors with losses. Critics accused the project’s founder of failing to address concerns and claimed Levent’s public endorsement had encouraged participation. Levent later denied any intention to mislead investors, emphasizing he was not involved in managing Nigella World’s day-to-day operations.

Levent has also been associated with Nigella Chain, a platform under the Nigella World umbrella offering blockchain-based solutions in areas such as food safety and agricultural technology. In a 2024 LinkedIn post, Nigella World announced the launch of the "Nigella Blockchain Academy", crediting Levent’s contributions and outlining plans to expand blockchain applications to finance, healthcare, and supply chain management.

Additionally, Levent collaborated with a local crypto exchange on the "HALUK" token, which was promoted as a charitable endeavor. While these ventures initially attracted public interest, they also drew criticism regarding transparency and the volatility of new digital assets. As of this writing, no formal legal action has been taken against Levent in relation to these projects.

Personal life

He was born on November 26, 1968, in the Yamaçlı neighborhood of Yüreğir, Adana. He is the eighth of nine siblings. Haluk Levent has stated that his family is Alawite but he does not consider himself to be an ethnic Arab.

Discography

;Studio albums
* ''Yollarda / Bu Ateş Sönmez'' (Prestij Müzik) (1993)
* ''Bir Gece Vakti'' (Prestij Müzik) (1995)
* ''Arkadaş'' (Prestij Müzik) (1996)
* ''Mektup'' (Prestij Müzik) (1997)
* ''Yine Ayrılık (Prestij Müzik) (1998)
* ''www.leyla.com'' (2000)
* ''Kral Çıplak'' (2001)
* ''Bir Erkeğin Günlüğü'' (Popüler Müzik) (2002)
* ''Özel Canlı İstanbul Konseri'' (Popüler Müzik) (2003)
* ''Türkiye Turnesi 2003'' (Popüler Müzik) (2003)
* ''Aç Pencereni'' (Belis-Seyhan Müzik) (2004)
* ''Annemin Türküleri'' (DMC) (2005)
* ''Akşam Üstü'' (Mod Müzik-Ozan Video) (2006)
* ''Karagöz ve Hacivat'' (Mod Müzik) (2010)
* ''Trilogy'' (Süper Müzik Yapım) (2010)
* ''Dostane'' (DNK Müzik) (2014)
* ''Best of Konserler'' (Süper Müzik Yapım) (2015)
* ''Tam Bana Göre'' (Pasaj Müzik & Garaj Müzik) (2019)
* ''Vasiyet'' (Pasaj Müzik) (2021)

;Compilation albums
* ''Yaz Şarkıları'' (2006)
* ''Pop 2006'' (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levent, Haluk
Turkish rock singers
1968 births
Living people
Anatolian rock musicians
Turkish male guitarists
People from Adana
Turkish nationalists
Turkish Alawites