# Hekimoğlu Türküsü

Hekimoğlu (English: The Ballad of Hekimoğlu) is a popular Turkish türkü (folk song) in the musical modal Chahargah with a rhythm of 4/4. Although the TRT archive lists Ümit Tokcan as the source under the repertoire number 110, Ümit Tokcan himself says that the folk song was actually compiled by Kadir İnanır. The region of the folk song is Fatsa, Ordu. It is claimed to be first written as a lament by Kalyoncuoğlu Recep, who is also known as Töreli Hafız. The türkü was repopularised in the 2000s by popular Turkish media franchise Valley of the Wolves, playing a crucial role in the series, it was covered by Oktay Kaynarca who played as the character "Süleyman Çakır" in the franchise.
In the footnote section of the 63rd page of the book titled "Ünye Songs and Folk Songs 3" published in September 2010; composer of the uncensored version of Hekimoğlu, Hamdi Tanses claims that the lament of Hekimoğlu, was burnt by his grandfather Kalyoncuoğlu Recep (Töreli Hafız), and that the words used in the lament are common in the folk language from the Çitlice village, located in Korgan.

## Song

The anonymous türkü emerged in the early years of the 20th century with the title "Hekimoğlu Derler Benim Aslıma". Like many folk songs of the time, several versions exist. The most common version of the türkü is:
In the first couplet, the word martin refers to a Peabody-Martini-Henry rifle. It is also debated that the word "ordu" used in the last couplet is used in the meaning of meaning of military (Turkish: ordu). It is claimed by former member of the Grand National Assembly Mustafa Hasan Öz that the phrase in which Öz's grandfather's name was mentioned ("I couldn't cope with Dadyan Arslan") was replaced by "Ünye and Fatsa joined their forces, my narin, I couldn't cope with them" in case of a reaction from the public.

### Censorship

There is a distinct difference between the folk lyrics of the folk song and the lyrics included in the TRT archive. Hekimoğlu in the language of the people is the depiction of a virtuous rebel who opposes oppression, injustice and bastardy. While the Hekimoğlu, who was included in Mehmet Özbek's book "Folklore ve Türkülerimiz" and transferred to the TRT archive, is abstracted from all those virtues and turned into a person who has a softer personality. The acute accents in the lyrics of the folk song were replaced by docile and orderly words.
For example, the following parts of the folk song were censored:
In some regions of Ordu, the words “Hekimoğlu is coming by having sex” are sung as “Hekimoğlu is coming by crushing the enemy”. The reason why the headman of Çitlice is called an arsehole in the song is due to Hekimoğlu's visit to the headman's house in Çitlice village following the murder of his Hekimoğlu's two nephews. According to author, Kurdologist and Turkologist Mehmet Bayrak, although the headman seems to be on Hekimoğlu's side, in reality he is in collaboration with the Turkish gendarme. As a matter of fact, he gives a tip-off through one of his men and Hekimoğlu gets cornered by the gendarmes because of the headman's trick. A big clash breaks out and Hekimoğlu, according to a rumour, breaks through the circle, but dies of his wounds before he can get far.
The couplets themself also vary depending on the variation, with them being changed to:

## Variations

The türkü has been covered by many singers and bands such as:
* Resul Dindar
* Ayna
* Gökhan Kırdar
* Özdemir Erdoğan
* Oktay Kaynarca
* Mazhar ve Fuat
* Fuat Saka
* Tülay German (uncensored version)
* Grup Çığ
* Soner Olgun

### Variations outside of Anatolia

Μανώλης Λιδάκης (Manolis Lidakis) sang the türkü in Greek as Στου μυαλού μου τ'άγρια βάθη (In The Wild Depths Of My Mind).