The world of song and folk music is in mourning in Turkey after the famous Turkish singer Volkan Konan died last night while performing at a concert in Cyprus to mark the end of Ramadan.
Known for his distinctive voice and music inspired by famous poems from Turkish literature, Konak died last night while singing at a concert in the Turkish Cypriot town of İskele, in the far north of the island of Cyprus. According to Turkish news agencies and media, Konak – who appears energetic in a video of the concert minutes before the fatal outcome – collapsed on stage during the performance, unleashing screams from part of the audience, who immediately realised that something serious had happened.
After receiving first aid from the concert staff themselves, Konak was immediately transferred by ambulance to the public hospital in Famagusta (northern Cyprus), where, despite all the doctors’ efforts, he was pronounced dead shortly after being admitted. The Health Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) confirmed the tragic news. After an autopsy is performed, it was reported that his body will be transferred to Turkey.
For its part, the hospital issued a statement saying that after the emergency services were alerted by a call at 11:23 p.m. on 30 March, an ambulance was immediately sent to the hotel where the concert was being held: ‘The artist was admitted to our hospital at 00:17 hours with cardiorespiratory arrest, and was immediately transferred to the resuscitation room, where an advanced life support team attempted resuscitation for 25 minutes. However, despite all medical interventions, there was no response. Konak was declared dead at 00:42, and CPR was concluded.’
Shock in the Turkish music world
Konak’s sudden death at the age of just 58 has left a deep wound in the artistic world and among his thousands of fans in Turkey. Turkish singer Hakan Altun, who went to the hospital where the artist was admitted as soon as he heard the news, expressed his sadness to journalists outside the hospital: ‘Our pain is immense. This is a huge loss. I pray to God to have mercy on his soul’. For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a statement expressing its sincere condolences, recalling that Konak’s voice and music touched the hearts of thousands of people and that ‘his works will live on in our memories‘.
Born in 1967 in Trabzon, on the Turkish Black Sea coast, Volkan Konak studied music at the conservatory of the Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ). Nicknamed Kuzeyin Oğlu (‘the Son of the North’) because of his origins, he released his first album in 1989, although it would be with his second album, ‘Efulim’, released in 1993, that he would begin to earn his well-deserved fame. The peak of his career came in 2009 with his album ‘Mimoza’, which contained some of his best songs: ‘Göklerde Kartal Gibiydim,’ ‘Mimoza Çiçeği’ and ‘Yarim Yarim’. Throughout his life he received numerous awards, and he stood out for composing several songs based on poems by renowned poets of Turkish literature such as Nazım Hikmet, Yaşar Miraç and Sunay Akın.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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