Hasret Şükrü Gültekin (1 May 1971 – 2 July 1993) was a Kurdish–Turkish musician and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. He was murdered in the Sivas massacre, along with 34 other people in the Sivas Province of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

when an Islamist mob set fire to the Madımak Hotel. He was

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

. Gültekin was born in the Han village of

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

as the third child of Süleyman and Hacıhanım Gültekin. He started playing

bağlama The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...

at the age of six and dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music. He completed his first album ''Gün Olaydı'' (If It Had Been Day) when he was only sixteen years old. In 1989, he demonstrated his mastery of the technique of

on his second album ''Gece ile Gündüz Arasında'' (Between Night and Day). His third album ''Rüzgarın Kanatları'' (The Wings of the Wind) was released in 1991. Later that year he married Yeter Gültekin. On 2 July 1993 he went to Sivas to take part in the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Festival alongside many other musicians, authors, poets and intellectuals. He died at the age of 22 during the arson attack on the Madimak Hotel where he was staying. His wife gave birth to their son, Roni Hasret Gültekin, three months after his death. In 2020, a statue of Gültekin was erected on the grounds of a cemevi (Alevi prayer house) in the Turkish province of Dersim. The Cemevi also created a monument to the 33 others who died in the Sivas massacre.

References

External links

hasretgultekin.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gultekin, Hasret 1971 births 1993 deaths Deaths from fire Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi alumni Kurdish Alevis Kurdish male singers Mass murder victims People murdered in Turkey Turkish democracy activists Turkish people of Kurdish descent Turkish murder victims 20th-century Turkish male singers 20th-century Turkish folk musicians