Ahmet Kaya, Acılara Tutunmak

2 ottobre 2026

Copertina: Ahmet Kaya, Acılara Tutunmak

Ahmet Kaya · Acılara Tutunmak · Turkey · Taç Plak

Ahmet Kaya · Acılara Tutunmak · Turkey · Taç Plak

Format: Cassette, Süper Stereo Label: Taç Plak, İMÇ 6. Blok 6409, Unkapanı, İstanbul Year: Not printed on the cover. Probably mid-1980s (unverified)

Some covers make you stop digging through the crate, and this is one of them. A harsh, high-contrast black-and-white photo of Ahmet Kaya, looking like it was photocopied one too many times, with the title in hot magenta. Taç Plak's crown logo sits in yellow on the spine and in pink in the corner. It is cheap Unkapanı cassette printing at its best, when the cheapness became the style.

The man

Ahmet Kaya (1957–2000) was born in Malatya and became one of the most loved, and most hounded, voices in Turkish music. He came up through folk and özgün müzik, then mixed in arabesk and protest song. His songs deal with poverty, injustice and longing, and they made him a hero to many listeners and a problem for the authorities.

His story ends badly. In 1999, at a televised ceremony, he said he wanted to record a Kurdish-language video. The backlash was brutal, prosecution followed, and he left for France. He died in Paris in November 2000, aged 43. Thousands attended his funeral at Père Lachaise, and his reputation in Turkey has largely recovered since.

The record

This is early Kaya, and it's basically a poetry album set to music. Hasan Hüseyin (Korkmazgil), the great leftist poet, supplies five of the ten songs. Enver Gökçe, Orhan Veli and Ataol Behramoğlu are heavyweights of Turkish verse too. Kaya wrote all the music and only one set of lyrics (“Neden”).

The title track became one of his signature songs. The tape closes with “Sivastopol Marşı”, a march about the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. It's probably traditional, which would explain the missing credits.

All the music is credited to Ahmet Kaya, except the closing march, which has no credit at all.

There is an unidentified track on both sides of the cassette. Furthermore, the order of the songs printed on the cover does not match the order in which they were recorded on the tape.

Credits Producer: Cihan Sütşurup Arrangement director: Sezer Bağcan Sound engineer: Yılmaz Karayalım Recorded at Stüdyo Değişim

The J-card also carries the line saying Taç Plak is a member of the S.S. Müzik Prodüktörleri cooperative, the printed sign of legitimacy that gives the Turkish cassette scene its charm.