Aynur Dogan is one of the premier young female singers of Kurdish origin in Turkey today.
This in itself is a dangerous statement to make.
In Turkey today, there are mixed signals when it comes to anyone with other than a ‘Turkish’ origin.
Many singers, artists, intellectuals, journalists, politicians, and others, are arrested with charges of being ‘against the Turkish state’ and other such laws in the Turkish books, simply for speaking Kurmanji (the northern Kurdish dialect spoken) or other non-Turkish INDIGENOUS languages. If it is Greek, Italian, or a western language or Russian or Asian, there is no such law. The law stems from its long battle with itself over indigenous conflicts set-up after the treaties signed by the Allied powers and the subsequent creation of the Turkish state.
Many of Aynur’s colleague-singers, have been jailed. Aynur bravely sings and admonishes people to come together and appreciate diversity.
In these videos, there are two versions of the same song. The first is my favorite version of ‘Ehmedo’ done with the DJ/group extraordinaire: Orient Expressions. The second is her solo rendition done in more traditionally recognizable version of the song.
As you may hear from the tune and tone and pace, it is a lament, as are many of the old Kurdish songs, where oppression has visited for centuries.
AI NO KO 