AYDIN ÖZTÜRK

Aydın Öztürk was born in 1955 in Tunceli, in the village of Sağman (Dersim) in the Pertek district, where he spent the first ten years of his life. Due to forced migration driven by economic circumstances, his family relocated to Elazığ. He attended Fatih Mehmet Primary School, Devrim Middle School, and Atatürk High School. In 1973–1974, he enrolled in the Faculty of Business Administration at Atatürk University in Erzurum, where he studied until his final year. Amid the political climate of the era, he and many of his peers transferred to 9 Eylül University. However, following the events of the September 12 (1980) military coup, he was expelled from the university. For political reasons, he spent approximately 5.5 years in various military-run detention centers including those in Istanbul (Selimiye, Alemdağ, and Sultanahmet), Elazığ, and Diyarbakır, under martial law. He was released from Ergani Prison in April 1988. After his release, he settled in Istanbul, where he held various positions ranging from secretarial work to accounting often with the help of friends. Beginning in 1994, he worked as a programmer and broadcast director at the Istanbul-based station Radyo Umut (94.3). In subsequent years, he hosted programs on Düzgün TV, Yol TV, Su TV, and Cem TV. Following this period, he served for many years as an arts consultant at İber Müzik. He is a member of PEN International, the Writers Syndicate of Türkiye (Türkiye Yazarlar Sendikası), MESAM, and MÜYORBİR.
Books:
In the Heat of a Volcano (poetry), I Know the Heart Endures (novel), It Was a Fracture of Love (poetry), Time Was Written into Laments (poetry), My Eyes Remained Like Ruined Walls (poetry), The Triumph of Remembering / The Saturday Mothers (poetry), Rote-Learned Solitudes / Like Deep Rivers (essays), A Souvenir Photo with the Dead (poetry), Letters with a Heart of Rain (essays), A Turn in the Heart (lyrical texts), My Heart-of-Rain (poetry), A Journey into Thought with Afşar Timuçin (co-authored book—radio interviews), Şehriban (poetry), My Hidden Beloved (poetry), Time Was an Unopened Letter (poetry), How Many Farewells We Said (poetry), The Sun Departed with You (poetry), Memories Have No Evening (poetry), If Life Sweats Blood (poetry).
Albums:
“Cumartesi Anneleri” (Saturday Mothers), “Çabuk Unutuyoruz” (We Forget Quickly), “Sızı” (The Pain), “Haydi Topla Yüreğini” (Come On, Pull Your Heart Together), “Tutku Ya da Aşk” (Passion or Love), “Aydın Öztürk Bestelerini Söylediler 1” (They Sand Aydın Öztürk’s Compositions 1), “Aydın Öztürk Bestelerini Söylediler 2” (They Sand Aydın Öztürk’s Compositions 2), “Gözlerinde Yaşlandım”, “Aydın Öztürk Bestelerini Söylediler 3”, and “Aydın Öztürk Besteleriyle Düetler” (Duets with Aydın Öztürk’s Compositions).
Aydın Öztürk has composed around 300 works. To recall a few:
“Yağmur Yüreklim” (My Rain Hearted One) and “Geceyi Sana Yazdım” (I Wrote the Night for You), both composed by Onur Akın, became very popular; the lyrics for these were written by Aydın Öztürk. Other songs for which he wrote both the lyrics and the music such as “Yara Sağalır” (The Wound Heals), “Zifir Saçlarını Savur İçimde” (Toss Your Pitch-Black Hair Within Me), and “Sele Verseydim” (If I had given it to the flood – performed by Yavuz Bingöl) reached the top of the charts and were sung by millions. Other notable examples include “Yalan Oldu” (It Came to Nothing – performed by Edip Akbayram), “Sen Kalbimin Direğisin” (You Are the Pillar of My Heart -Kıvırcık Ali), “Gül Ek Yüreğine” (Plant a Rose in Your Heart – Canan Başkaya), “Aybükem” (My Aybüke – Grup Çığ), “Yarin Olayım” (Let me be Yours – Hüseyin Turan), “Yürek Buna da Dayanır” (The Heart Can Endure Even This – Arzu), and “İmkânsız” (Impossible – Gülay). Furthermore, songs performed by Öztürk himself such as “Canlı Yayında Ölüm” (Death on Live Broadcast),
“Cumartesi Anneleri” (Saturday Mothers), “Ömrüm Senindir” (My Life is Yours), “Sana Mecnun” (Madly in Love with Your), “Yağmurla Gelsen” (If You Came with the Rain), “İğde Kokulu Yarim” (My Sweetheart with the Scent of Oleaster), “Elimden Gelseydi Üzmezdim Seni” (If I Could, I Wouldn’t Upset You), “Siyahlı” (The One in Black), and “Bela Çiçeğim” (My Troublesome Flower) are also among his most beloved works. Some of the artists who have performed or recited his songs and poems include:
Öykü Gürman, Rutkay Aziz, Işın Karaca, Grup Seksendört, Mesut Mertcan, Hüseyin Turan, Arzu, Onur Akın, İlkay Akkaya, Nurettin Rençber, Mustafa Özarslan, Nurdan İpek, Çiğdem, Gülten, Emre Saltık, Ferhat Tunç, Kıvırcık Ali, Gülay, Efkan Şeşen, Oğuz Aksaç, Gülcihan Koç, Hilmi Yarayıcı, Hakan Yeşilyurt, Kadir İpek, Rojin, Ali Asker, Erensoy Akkaya, Abidin Biter, Zeynel Aba, Seyfi Yerlikaya, Zuhal, Canan, Özge, Bahar – Grup Revan, Fethi Perilioğlu, Lütfü – Emre Gültekin, Uğur Karataş, Alaaddin Us, Özkan Sakız, Grup Coşaneller… I am certain that many names have been left out, my apologies.