 neÅet ertaÅ (1938 &ndash; 25 september 2012) was a turkish folk music singer, lyricist, and virtuoso of the traditional turkish instrument the baÄlama. his profession in turkish is known as halk ozanÄ±, which literally means "folk bard". yaÅar kemal gave ertaÅ his nickname, "bozkÄ±rÄ±n tezenesi" (literally: "plectrum of the steppe"), writing it in a book he gave him as a gift. ==early years and family life== neÅet ertaÅ was born in 1938, in kÄ±rtÄ±llar, a village in kÄ±rÅehir. his father, muharrem ertaÅ, was also a folk poet; his mother, dÃ¶ne koÃ§, was muharrem's second wife, his first wife, hatice, having died early. neÅet was the second eldest of four children; he had an older half-brother, necati, from his father's first marriage and two younger sisters, ayÅe and nadiye. his mother dÃ¶ne also died early, and his father married again, to arzu. from this third marriage four sons, ekrem, ali, muharrem and cemal, were born. neÅet married leyla, a singer from bolu, in 1960 in ankara, where the two had met while performing at a night club. she bore him two daughters and a son. the couple divorced after ten years of marriage. ==music career== at the age of five and six, neÅet ertaÅ started to play first the violin and then the baÄlama, the turkish national instrument. his father earned his living by playing at wedding ceremonies in central anatolian villages, and for eight years
1938_births 2012_deaths BaAlama_players Cancer_deaths_in_Turkey Recipients_of_the_State_Medal_of_Distinguished_Service_(Turkey) Turkish_expatriates_in_Germany Turkish_folk_musicians Turkish_folk_poets Turkish_folk_singers Turkish_male_singers