Şivan Perwer
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Şivan Perwer (born İsmail Aygün on 23 December 1955) is a Kurdish poet, writer, musical teacher, singer, and performer on the '' Tembûr''. Perwer fled Turkey in 1976 due to the Kurdish nationalism and political tones of his music and lived for 37 years in continuous exile until his return to Diyarbakir on November 16, 2013. He still lives in exile to this day. Perwer also holds several honorary doctorates in music.


Birth and early life

Şivan (meaning shepherd in Kurdish) Perwer was officially born on 23 December 1955 as ''İsmail Aygün'' in Viransehir, Turkey. However, his true date of birth cannot be proven because the majority of the inhabitants of the Turkish part of Kurdistan had little education and as a result did not regularly register births in state registry offices immediately. It is therefore most likely that his birth was registered some time after his actual birth date, as a Turkish citizen. As a child Perwer was exposed to Kurdish music at a very young age, which lead him to perusing his musical career and Kurdish writing that is highly valued in Kurdish music today.


Biography

For 25 years, Perwer's songs were banned in Iraq,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and Turkey because they are sung in Kurdish and often cite the oppression against the
Kurdish people ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
in the Middle East, most notably Turkey.
Cassettes Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...
of his music were passed along from hand to hand, despite the risk of
imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
or death. Şivan became famous during the period of Kurdish protests against Iraqi rule at
Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...
in 1972. His homemade recordings were smuggled over the border, while thousands of people came to see him perform live. Fearing for his life and the welfare of his family and after calls from Turkish authorities demanding his arrest, he fled Turkey and settled in Germany in 1976. There, Perwer recorded his first official album of traditional Kurdish songs. In 1991, Perwer performed at the " Simple Truth" Live aid concert, alongside Chris de Burgh, Madonna, Rod Stewart, as well as other international artists. The proceeds from the concert went to the aid of Şivan Perwer for refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan fleeing the Gulf War and was considered one of the most important humanitarian efforts for the region. In 1999 he followed Abdullah Öcalan’sinvitation to spend time with him and Mahmoud Baksi in Rome. Perwer’s music had a strong influence on the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party, which Öcalan led), since his songs were often about the ''karker'' (meaning worker in Kurdish). In 2004, Şivan took an initiative for the improvement of culture in society by establishing the ''Sivan Perwer International Cultural Foundation'' in Frankfurt, Germany. On Tuesday, March 21, 2006, Şivan Perwer was featured on PRI's
The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in their Global Hits segment. In 2013, he visited Turkey for the first time after he left for Germany in 1976. He arrived upon the invitation by
Masoud Barzani Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مه‌سعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region o ...
, who met with
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 ...
. There, he and Ibrahim Tatlises sung at a mass wedding in Diyarbakir of 300 couples lead by the two politicians. His return was met with mixed feelings by the Kurds. Some were excited to hear him, others wished he would not have come back to show his support for Erdoğan right before the local elections, but rather to contribute to the ongoing Kurdish-Turkish peace process. Thus far, Şivan Perwer has produced over thirty albums, music videos and documentaries. He has written several books and several other publications as well. Şivan has a career expanding over forty years and has received many honorary doctorates and International World music prizes. He has composed music and sung many songs using the poetry of the late Kurdish poet, Cigerxwîn. Cigerxwîn was well known for his poetry about the Kurdish struggle and also about Kurdish culture and history. At one time, Cigerxwîn referred to Şivan as "the Voice of his poetry". Kurdish songs (or '' dengbêj'') are considered by some to be one of the key elements in preserving Kurdish culture and history. Şivan Perwer was very close to Hessin Abdulrahman Swari, who is one of the main reasons for Perwer’s fame. Swari was considered by Kurds a man of great integrity and held close ties between Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan.


Discography

Lyrics to Şivan Perwer music and songs can be found at the Kurdish Lyric Archive a
Bêjebêje


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perwer, Sivan Kurdish male singers 1955 births Living people People from Siverek Turkish emigrants to Germany Kurdish-language singers Kurdish musicians