Veteran Turkish pop star launches album inspired by Nasreddin Hodja jokes

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Erol Büyükburç arrives at the promotional meeting riding a donkey and disguised as the white bearded 'Hodja.' AA photo

After trading his "king of pop" crown for a rock & roll-ish Elvis Presley pastiche and having recently even flirted with hip hop beats, veteran musician Erol Büyükburç has found a new muse for his big return to the scene: Nasreddin Hodja, the satirical Sufi from the Seljuk period who is famous for his funny anecdotes.

However, Büyükburç's latest move is no satire, as he has converted 10 of Nasreddin Hodja's most popular jokes into poetic form and set them to music. What's more, he has also translated the songs into French, English, German, Italian, Russian, Persian and Chinese.

The unusual project comes after five decades of stardom, but despite being in the scene for so long, Büyükburç has said he still feels a huge excitement for his new album.

The musician, who arrived at the promotional meeting riding a donkey and disguised as the white bearded "Hodja," said he intended to transmit the legendary anecdotes to new generations all over the world. "I am proud of having poetically composed 10 of his jokes and having sung them in various languages with younger singers," Büyükburç said.

A video for the first single "Halim Ne Oldu?" (What Would I Have Been?) is set to be filmed in Nasreddin Hodja's hometown of Konya, Akşehir.