Famous folk composer Ertaş dies in hospital

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Neşet Ertaş is in intensive care at a hospital in İzmir. DHA photo

Turkish folk music composer, singer and bağlama virtuoso Neşet Ertaş died in a hospital in Agean province of İzmir today, CNNTürk has reported.

Ertaş had been reportedly receiving intensive care amid continuing illness, doctors said.

Ertaş is known as a “halk ozanı,” which literally means “folk poet.” The singer was born in 1938 in Kırtıllar, a village in the Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir, to father Muharrem Ertaş, who was also a folk poet, and mother Döne Koç.

Ertaş went to primary school for just two years but quickly became a master at the bağlama. The singer is also known for interpreting musical pieces of the Abdal tradition, following his father.