The 50s was a huge turning point in the history of Turkey. Attempts to westernise the country, which sprang from the Ottoman Empire and were shaped and carried out by the Kemalist republic, were reaching new dimensions. Murat Meriç narrates the early years of the Turkish Republic and the period of change which took place in the 50s using digitized sound recordings and vinyl.

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

In the 60’s, villagers began to long for the city. This was reflected in music, in what would come to be called Anatolian Pop. Emerging in Turkey but strongly inspired by the West, Anatolian Pop also brought foreign musicians, who sung in broken Turkish, to the country.

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

In the 70s, pop music became increasingly fasionable in Turkey. Foreign songs with Turkish lyrics were sung, but the production of local music also began to evolve at a high rate. During this time, folk music was mixed with Alaturca, arabesque emerged and political music became popular. A colorful epoch in Turkey!

Listen to the podcast here. 

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

One of the most important historical events in Turkish history happened in 1980. The third Coup d’Etat happening in the Republic of Turkey has shaped the country right up to the present. Turkey became more liberal and opened up towards the rest of the world. The history of Rock and Pop was rewritten, and numerous songs and türkü’s* of that time are influenced by the years of change.

*Turkish Folk Music

Listen to the podcast here. 

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

The (musical) history of Turkey can be read by one dazzling figure alone - Zeki Müren, an exceptional singer and stage performer in the genres of Pop, Alaturca, folk music and Arabesque. Murat Meriç talks to the Zeki Müren expert and curator of the exhibition İşte Benim Zeki Müren (2014), Derya Bengi, about Müren's story from his musical beginnings in the 1950s to his later work.

Listen to the podcast here. 

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

Turkish migrant workers expressed their troubles through music. Some took their saz and sang about their experiences, some wrote letters to their loved ones, some of them developed political visions for the future. This event is about the reflections of migrant workers, in and outside of Turkey, in the 1950s and early 60s.

* Turkish for “foreign land.” Gurbet not only designates a geographical location but also implies the emotional distance from home. Stemming from the Arabic garb, it means “west” as well as “sunset.” The verb garaba also has its root in the same word, meaning “to be removed; to be an alien.”

Listen to the podcast here. 

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

Workers who had to leave behind their families in Turkey to find employment in Germany met each other in songs. This is the story of the generations who have spent their lives in the in-between; those living between foreign lands and home, and the families live apart. 

* Turkish for “foreign land.” Gurbet not only designates a geographical location but also implies the emotional distance from home. Stemming from the Arabic garb, it means “west” as well as “sunset.” The verb garaba also has its root in the same word, meaning “to be removed; to be an alien.”

Listen to the podcast here. 

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

The children of so-called guest workers from Turkey raised their voices through music in West Germany in the 1980s. This was the beginning of Turkish rap music in Germany. Murat Meriç leads us through the genre with numerous song examples and tells us how it found its place in today's Turkish music scene.

Listen to the podcast here.

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.

The journey of Yerli Müzik led us from the final days of the Ottoman Empire all the way through the century’s music culture till today. On our way, our program curator and music historian Murat Meriç introduced us to vibrant musicians, told the very stories that gave birth to new genres and unwrapped the political history of Turkey through the songs of each era. To celebrate the end of this journey and the release of an illustrated glossary of Turkey’s music history, we invite you for a final Yerli Müzik night at bi’bak. For the finale, Murat Meriç has prepared a special selection.

Murat Meriç is a radio producer, author, music historian, collector and researcher. He founded and published the magazines Müzük and Roll. His writings have been published in various magazines and newspapers. He has also produced and hosted the TV show Kırkbeşlik (45) for the channel TRT and published two books on popular music in Turkey: Pop Dedik / Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim Yayınları, 2006) and 100 Şarkıda Memleket Tarihi (Ağaçkakan Yayınları, 2016). In 2017 he produced the daily show The Country’s History through Songs for the radio station Açık Radyo.