Ertaş died on Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. in the intensive care unit of Medical Park Hospital, where he had been admitted on Sept. 10, said his doctor, Ahmet Uğur Yılmaz, in a news conference on Tuesday morning at the hospital, the Cihan news agency reported. Ertaş had been receiving cancer treatment for the past two years, Yılmaz added.He will be buried on Wednesday in the Bağbaşı cemetery in Kırşehir province following afternoon prayers at the Ahi Evran-ı Veli Mosque, the Anatolia news agency reported.
News of Ertaş’s death arrived two days after Sunday afternoon’s news that he had been taken into intensive care and as his fans were sharing get-well wishes for the folk singer/songwriter and saz virtuoso online.
Following the announcement of Ertaş’s death, grieving fans flocked to the hospital, where the musician’s family accepted their condolences.
Ertaş’s son, Hüseyin Ertaş, told reporters there that they were still trying to cope with the news of his loss. “We just learned about his [passing away]. He was a person who has come to be associated with Turkey. He was our family, our dad; but he was also like Turkey’s brother, father. … So we decided to make the announcement right away,” he added.
The son of the late Muharrem Ertaş, one of the most distinguished representatives of the “ozan” (bard) tradition in Anatolian folk music, Neşet Ertaş will be buried next to his father, in accordance with his will, Ertaş’s son, Hüseyin, added.
High-profile officials, including President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay as well as several other officials and organizations, issued messages of condolence on Tuesday to express their grief.
President Gül said in his message that Ertaş would always be remembered with respect and would continue to live on in the hearts of his fans with his songs, known in Anatolia as “bozlak.” “The death of a folk artist this renowned is a great loss for our art world and our country,” said the president.
Culture and Tourism Minister Günay said in his statement that he was extremely saddened by the loss of Ertaş, whom he also knew personally. Calling Ertaş the “huge plane tree of Turkish folk music and a great master,” Günay told Anatolia that he went to visit Ertaş at the hospital but that he never believed that he would die this soon. “I was hoping that his life would be a long one. I am deeply saddened by his death. Ertaş was a musician who dedicated many years to Turkish folk music and who created some truly unforgettable songs. He is Turkey’s biggest loss,” Günay said.
“Ertaş, with both his [virtuosity] and his appreciative personality, was one of the musicians I loved to listen to. … He made our music, our culture, our folk music renowned in Europe. … It is our duty to make future generations learn about the beautiful music of this nice person,” Günay added.
Born in 1938 in the Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir, Neşet Ertaş first played the violin and later began playing the saz at the age of 6, when he used to perform with his father at rural weddings and other kinds of celebrations in their hometown.
Neşet Ertaş always used to cite his father as his biggest and only influence, and used to say, “We’re of the same soul.”
He moved to İstanbul in the 1950s, where he recorded well-known folk songs by his father when he was only 14. He lived there for two years before moving to Ankara, where he would play in taverns. In 1979 he left for Germany with his family due to health reasons. He returned to performing — and to his homeland — in 2000, with a massive concert in İstanbul. Ertaş and his family later settled in İzmir.
Named in 2010 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a Living Human Treasure, a significant person who possesses the knowledge and skills required for helping “intangible cultural heritage” to live on, Ertaş had rejected in the 1990s the title of “State Artist” (an honor bestowed by the Turkish Republic on artists with major achievements), saying, “We are all artists of this state; I find the title ‘state artist’ to be discriminating.” He then added that he deemed being the “artist of the people” the highest honor.
The singer/songwriter was also the recipient of the Turkish Parliament’s Outstanding Service Honor in 2006.
Ertaş became a star in his own right with his virtuosity in the saz, the folksongs he helped rediscover and the way he also used his saz like a darbuka, becoming a living legend for Turkish folk music lovers of all ages. Throughout his recording career, he released more than 20 albums. Many of Ertaş’s folk songs were performed as cover versions by Turkish rock musicians, including Barış Manço and Cem Karaca as well as classical singer/songwriter Zeki Müren, among others.
Ertaş is survived by his wife, Seyhan, and their three children, Döne, Canan and Hüseyin Ertaş.
(Today’s Zaman)
