Sabahat Akkiray (born 6 February 1955 in

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is a ...

), better known as Sabahat Akkiraz, is a

Turkish folk music Turkish folk music (''Türk Halk Müziği'') is the traditional music of Turkish people living in Turkey influenced by the cultures of Anatolia and former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under ...

singer and was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

between 2011 and 2015 from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP).

Biography

Music career

Born to a music-orientated family in

Kangal Kangal is a town and a district of Sivas Province in Turkey. The current mayor is Ahmet Kürşad Apaydın from the Great Unity Party (BBP). As Kaymakam was appointed Erinç Demir. Demographics The town is populated by Sunni Kurds ug:كۇر� ...

, Akkiraz and her family moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during her childhood. After returning to Turkey, she released her first professional album, ''Şafak Söktü'', in 1983. Since then, she has worked with several other artists such as

Arif Sağ Arif Sağ (born 1945) is a Turkish singer, bağlama virtuoso, and leading figure in modern Turkish folk music. A former academic, he was also a member of the Turkish parliament from 1987 to 1991. Early years Arif Sağ was born to a miller at Dal ...

Musa Eroğlu Musa Eroğlu (born 1946) is a Turkish folk musician and bağlama virtuoso. He was born in the Mut county district of Mersin. He is a Tahtacı. He completed his secondary education in Mut. He then started to perform Turkish folk dance and music. I ...

, Muhlis Akarsu, Aşık Daimi, Feyzullah Çınar and Davut Sulari. Known internationally for her contribution to Turkish folk music, she has given concerts around the world and has worked with singers from different countries to help with their albums. Akkiraz has worked with London-based world jazz group

Grand Union Orchestra Grand Union Orchestra, also known as The Grand Union, is a multicultural world jazz ensemble based in London. It has been performing, touring and recording large-scale shows for over 30 years and is well known for its educational work. Biography ...

, releasing an album, ''Echoes From Anatolia'', and performing in their show ''Where The Rivers Meet'' at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

Political career

In the 2011 general election in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, Akkiraz was elected as an MP from İstanbul's 3rd electoral district from the opposition CHP. Following the

Soma mine disaster On 13 May 2014, blasting at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed in what was the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by ...

in 2014, Akkiraz announced her resignation from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for the June 2015 general election, stating that having a parliamentary seat did not give her the ability to change the direction of the country. She proposed the joint resignation of all CHP MPs from Parliament as a protest against the governing

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP) and the then-Prime Minister,

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

Discography

* ''Gül Yüzlü Sevdiğim'' (1982) * ''Şafak Söktü'' (1983) * ''İnsana Muhabet Duyalı'' (1984) * ''Bir Gerçeğe Bel Bağladım'' (1985) * ''Boş Yere Kavgayı Zahmet Biliriz'' (1986) * ''Fazilet'' (1988) * ''Deli Gönül - Bu Sene'' (1989) * ''Bendeki Yaralar'' (1990) * ''Yalan Dünya'' (1992) * ''Dostların Anısına'' (1993) * ''Dağlar Kardeşimi Geri Verin'' (1994) * ''Yiğit İnsanların Türküleri'' (1996) * ''Türkülerle Gide Gide'' (1997) * ''Yüreğimin Sesi'' (1999) * ''Deli Derviş'' (2000) * ''Chante Alevite/ Alawite Singing - Long Distance'' (2001) * ''Lamekan'' (2002) * ''Konserler'' (2002) * ''Kaygusuz'' (2003) * ''Seyran'' (2006) * ''Külliyat'' (2006) (with Orient Expressions) * ''Türkü Hayattır'' (2007) * ''Birlikte Türküler Söylüyoruz'' (2008) (with Mustafa Özarslan) * ''Dillerdeki Türküler'' (2010) * ''Yine mi Figan Var Dostların Anısına ...'' (2010) * ''Seçmeler'' (2011) * ''Turap'' (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akkiraz, Sabahat Turkish folk singers 1955 births Living people Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians People from Sivas Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey

Biography

Music career

Political career

Discography

See also

References