05.08.2025 13:35
For years, the emperor known as İbrahim Tatlıses, who is identified as being from Şanlıurfa, actually has an Arab father and a Kurdish mother. Tatlıses, who never attended school, worked in construction at a young age. While singing folk songs as a cold iron master, he caught the attention of a filmmaker from Adana one day. This coincidence opened the door to the path leading to the stage.
The details regarding the ethnic background of İbrahim Tatlıses, known as the "Emperor" of the music world, have come to the forefront again. The famous artist, born in Şanlıurfa, has made statements about his past that have reversed many widely held beliefs among the public for years.
Born in 1952 in Şanlıurfa, İbrahim Tatlıses was the eldest of seven children. His mother was of Kurdish descent, and his father was of Arab descent. Tatlıses was born while his father, Ahmet Tatlı, was in prison, and he faced a difficult life from a young age. He never attended school; in an interview he gave years later regarding this issue, he pointed out the injustice of the system by saying, "Was there an Oxford in Urfa that we didn't go to?"
To make a living, he sold water and worked as a street vendor while still a child. Later, while working as a cold iron master in construction, one day singing folk songs became a turning point that changed his life.
THE ROAD FROM CONSTRUCTION TO THE STAGE
Tatlıses was discovered by a filmmaker while singing folk songs in Adana. He first performed in Adana, then moved to Ankara, gradually becoming known in nightclubs and bars. The piece "Ayağında Kundura," which he performed at the Kınalı Pavilion in Ankara in 1974, became a turning point for him. Thanks to this song, he first appeared on Ankara Radio, and then he was a guest on screens on New Year's Eve. He quickly became a name recognized throughout Turkey. With his move to Istanbul, his stage career rapidly ascended. Here, he met musician Yılmaz Tatlıses and took on his surname.
İbrahim Tatlıses has occasionally made different statements regarding his ethnic identity. In a program he participated in on Kanal D, he defined himself by saying, "My father is Arab, my mother is Kurdish, and I am Turkish." In a concert he gave in Erbil in 2005, he greeted the audience with the words, "My father is Turkish, my mother is Kurdish, I am a Turkish son of a Turk. I brought greetings from Turkey."
These words once again demonstrate why Tatlıses, who is considered one of the people from all segments of society both in terms of his origins and his stance, has been able to appeal to such a wide audience for years.