Turkish language

Turkish ( Türkçe ), also referred to as Istanbul Turkish, is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 10–15 million native speakers in Southeast Europe (mostly in East Thrace) and 60-65 million native speakers in Western Asia (mostly in Anatolia). Outside of Turkey, smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Northern Cyprus (although a partially recognized state), Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia.

To the west, the influence of Ottoman Turkish—the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language of the Ottoman Empire—spread as the Ottoman Empire expanded. In 1928, as one of Atatürk's Reforms in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Turkish alphabet was replaced with a Latin script.

The distinctive characteristics of Turkish are vowel harmony and extensive agglutination. The basic word order of Turkish is subject–object–verb. Turkish has no noun classes or grammatical gender. Turkish has a strong T–V distinction and usage of honorifics. Turkish uses second-person pronouns that distinguish varying levels of politeness, social distance, age, courtesy or familiarity toward the addressee. The plural second-person pronoun and verb forms are used referring to a single person out of respect.

Ahmet Kaya

Ahmet Kaya (28 October 1957– 16 November 2000) was a Turkish singer from Malatya, Turkey of Kurdish ethnicity. He sang in Turkish and Kurdish. He identified as Kurd of Turkey, for which he was made an outcast in Turkey. Some of his most popular songs include Ayrılık Vakti, Söyle, Ağladıkça, Oy Benim Canım, Birazdan Kudurur Deniz, Arka Mahalle, Kum Gibi, Nereden Bileceksiniz, Hani Benim Gençliğim, Yakarım Geceleri and Şafak Türküsü.

Career

Ahmet Kaya was the fifth and last child born to his father, a Kurd who had moved from Adıyaman to Malatya, and his Turkish mother. He first encountered music at the age of six. Ahmet Kaya worked for a while as a taxicab driver in Istanbul before becoming well known as a singer in the mid-1980s.

His first album, Ağlama Bebeğim, was released in 1985. His popularity continued to rise into the 1990s when in 1994 he released the album Şarkılarım Dağlara which sold a record copies. All of his 1990 albums became chart-toppers.

During his career he recorded approximately 20 albums and was known for his protest music and positions on social justice. Recurring themes in his songs are love towards one's mother, sacrifice, and hope.

Hababam Sınıfı

Hababam Sınıfı (The Chaos Class) is a 1975 Turkish comedy film, directed by Ertem Eğilmez based on a novel by Rıfat Ilgaz, featuring an ensemble cast including Kemal Sunal, Tarık Akan and Münir Özkul that tells the adventures of a private school class students who are challenged by the arrival of a new headmaster. The film, which went on nationwide general release on April 1, 1975 (1975-04-01), was a success in Turkey and was followed by five direct sequels; Hababam Sınıfı Sınıfta Kaldı ("The Chaos Class Failed The Class", 1975), Hababam Sınıfı Uyanıyor ("The Chaos Class is Waking Up", 1976), Hababam Sınıfı Tatilde ("The Chaos Class is On Vacation", 1977), Hababam Sınıfı Dokuz Doğuruyor ("The Chaos Class is fretting over", 1978) and Hababam Sınıfı Güle Güle ("The Chaos Class: Bye Bye", 1981). The enduring popularity of the series resulted in three later sequels; Hababam Sınıfı Merhaba ("The Chaos Class Welcome", 2004), Hababam Sınıfı Askerde ("The Chaos Class in the Military", 2005) and Hababam Sınıfı Üç Buçuk ("The Chaos Class Three and a Half," 2006).

O. Z. Livaneli

Ömer Zülfü Livaneli, born June 20, 1946, is a bestselling Turkish author and poet who is considered one of the most significant and influential authors and intellectuals of his time. His books have won numerous literary awards, both in his home country and abroad.

Although his novels are viewed as highly literary, Livaneli is also considered the most popular contemporary author of Turkey today. The article "A festival of musical contrasts", which appeared in the International New York Times (9.7.2014) refers to Zuflu Livaneli as a composer.

Livaneli is known for his novels that interweave diverse social and historical backgrounds, figures, and incidents, such as in Bliss which won the Barnes & Noble's Discovery of Great New Writers Award in 2006, and in his critically acclaimed Serenade for Nadia, Leyla's House, and My Brother's Story, which were all translated into 37 languages and won numerous Turkish and International literary awards, and were highly praised by prominent literary critics around the world. His novels have been turned into theatrical movies, stage plays, and operas.