Hozan Diyar

Hozan Diyar — Biography

Hozan Diyar, also known as Diyar Dersim, made his name as a Kurdish bard and pop singer with his Kurdish-language songs. He is also associated with Koma Berxwedan, a group that gave weight to Kurdish music, and with concerts in many countries.

He was born in Ayvatlı village in the Mazgirt district of Tunceli, the second child of a Kurdish family. He finished primary school in Elazığ and middle and high school in Bingöl. In 1988 he settled in Germany, where he joined Koma Berxwedan and released his first album Bilbilo the same year, which made his name. He then carried on as a solo artist. Kerwan (1992), Natirsim (2008), Dema Azadî (2013), Ax û Dayîk (2015) and Kela Dimdimê (2017) are among the main points of his discography, and Gulê Neçe became one of his best-loved songs. He also appeared in the films Rêç and Doz.

He has performed in Rojava, the Kurdistan Region, Germany, Sweden and the United States. After a gap of about 18 years he gave concerts in Turkey in 2004, above all at the Newroz celebration in Diyarbakır; he decided to return to Turkey that year but then went back to Germany. He is married to the singer Deniz Derman.