Ciguli

Ciguli — Biography

Ciguli was an accordion virtuoso and singer of Romani descent, a Bulgarian Turk who became famous in Turkey. In Turkey he is known above all for "Binnaz", and "Şiki Şiki Baba" and "Yapma Bana Numara!" are also among his best-known songs. His real name was Ahmet, but because of the bans on Turkish names in Bulgaria he was registered as Angel Yordanov Kapsov, while his family kept calling him Ahmet. He played the accordion so fast and nimbly that he came to be called Ciguli, after the Soviet-made Zhiguli car.

He grew up in a family of five children; when his father, a porter, died in 1972 he began playing at weddings to support the family, and he had been playing the accordion at weddings and entertainment venues since the age of 11. In 1990 he came to Turkey with his elder brother and played in Istanbul at weddings, in restaurants in Kumkapı and in gazinos. In 1991 he accompanied Hülya Avşar at Çakıl Gazinosu; in the summer of 1998 he made his name playing behind İbrahim Tatlıses and Sibel Can at the İzmir Fair, in the colorful stage shows they staged. "Binnaz", released in 1999, made him known across Turkey, and he went on to release the albums Horozum (2000), Sabır Yaaa Sabır, Ben Akordiyonum and Sensiz Kaldım Şimdi.

He was named best breakthrough male artist at the 6th Kral TV Video Music Awards and appeared in series and films such as Bizim Sokak, Neredesin Firuze, Biz Boşanıyoruz and Limonata. He died in Sofia on October 31, 2014, and was buried in his hometown, Haskovo.