AMED - It has been 15 years since Armenian artist Aram Tigran passed away. Neşet Güçmen, one of the Ma Music instructors, pointed to Tigran's contributions to Kurdish music and said: "Kurds will never forget him."  

 

It has been 15 years since the unforgettable Kurdish and Armenian musician Aram Tigran passed away. The Armenian musician Tigran, also known as the "Nightingale of the Middle East", was born in 1934 in Qamishlo, Northern and Eastern Syria, to a family that was forced to migrate from Amed (Diyarbakır) after the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Tigran started playing the oud when he was only 9 years old. By the age of 20, he was singing Kurdish, Armenian and Arabic songs. 

 

During his lifetime, Tigran released 14 albums and sang nearly 250 songs. During the 2009 Newroz in Amed, he fell ill and underwent angioplasty. Tigran was declared brain dead on August 6, 2009 in the hospital in Greece where he was being treated and died on August 8. 

 

Tigran's will was to be buried in Amed. However, Tigran's request was rejected on the grounds that he was "not a Turkish citizen". Tigran's body was then buried in Brussels. The soil taken from Amed was poured on Tigran's grave. 

 

Tigran's melodies are still in the language of the peoples as he managed to find a special place in the hearts of every listener with his universal style of music. Tigran's songs such as Bilbilo, Ay Dîlberê, Te Ez Kal Kirim, Dîlber, Şev Çû, Dîyarbekir, Zimanê Kurdî, Ax Lê Eman echo throughout Kurdistan. 

 

'PEOPLES LOVED TIGRAN VERY MUCH'

 

Neşet Güçmen from Ma Musıc Center, who studied music at the conservatory established in Amed in Tigran's name and closed by the trustee in 2016, "His songs are the songs of the people. His words and melodies are very close to the peoples. All the peoples of the Middle East loved Aram Tigran because he sang about the problems, joys, pain and mourning of the Kurdish people and other peoples" he said. 

 

Pointing out that Tigran synthesized Armenian and Kurdish music, "He became a school. Just as Shakiro, Mehmed Arif Cizrawî, Tahsin Taha are a school, Aram Tigran is one of them. This is why he was so loved by the Kurdish people" Güçmen said. 

 

'KURDS WILL NOT FORGET TIGRAN'

 

Pointing out that Aram Tigran's song "Zimanê Kurdî" always comes to mind during attacks on the Kurdish language, Güçmen said: "My father was a dengbêj. I learned Aram Tigran's song 'Şev çû' from my father. I teach this song to my children and students. The closer singers are to the people, the more the people love them. That is why everyone loves his songs. Kurds will never forget Aram Tigran. He will always live in the hearts of Kurds."