Ankaralı Turgut

Ankaralı Turgut — Biography

Born Turgut Karataş on 11 September 1963 in the Ayaş district of Ankara to a family of Romani descent, Ankaralı Turgut began his music career in the early 1990s. He blended the folk-music tradition of the Ankara region with Arabesque influences to create a distinctive, humorous and upbeat style, becoming one of the best-known names of the "Ankaralı" school of folk music. Alongside his singing career he also worked as a lyricist and appeared as an actor in several film and television productions.

He died on 15 December 2024 in the Yenimahalle district of Ankara. Following his death, a family dispute emerged over the four children he had disowned and over donations that had been raised on his behalf, a conflict that reached the courts and was resolved with a widely reported inheritance ruling in January 2026.