TURKEY’S MUSIC TV CHANNELS AIR ARMENIAN MUSIC VIDEO

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 27, 2011 – 15:42 AMT

Turkey’s leading private music TV channels as well as the country’s
state-run broadcaster have broken new ground in airing the first
Armenian music video on popular stations in the nation’s history,
Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“Namag” (Letter) by Sibil Pektorosoglu, an Istanbul Armenian, has been
gaining mainstream popularity and can now be heard echoing from shops
along the city’s iconic Ä°stiklal Avenue. The lyrics were written by
master Armenian poet Hovhannes Shiraz while the singer’s music video
was produced by one of Turkey’s most famous directors in the field,
Ozkan Aksular.

Pektorosoglu said it was like a dream to release her album and
broadcast her music video on Turkish television. “When I hear my
songs on Ä°stiklal Avenue, I cry,” she said.

“Music is universal, it is above all identities. I can’t breathe
without singing; this is why this album is loved that much by my
listeners,” she said.

The song was the result of collaboration between Armenian and Turkish
artists. Pektorosoglu’s album was arranged by Cenk TaÅ~_kan, an
important figure on the Turkish pop music scene for more than 40 years.

Also an Istanbul Armenian, TaÅ~_kan’s real name is Majak ToÅ~_ikyan;
asked why he chose to use a Turkish name rather than his birth name,
he said: “Turkish artists, as well as many foreign artists, do not
use their own name. Changing my name does not mean that I have changed
my soul.”