Sevim Tanürek

Sevim Tanürek — Biography

Ayşe Sevim Tanürek was a Turkish classical music singer born in 1934; she performed on TRT's Ankara Radio from 1950 to 1959, then moved into stage work, cut numerous 45rpm records, and lent her voice to film scores, appearing as a singer in the films Güzeller Resmi Geçidi and Tosun İle Yosun and the television series Taş Plaktan Bugüne.

On 11 May 1998, while crossing a pedestrian crossing on a green light, she was struck by a car driven by Ahmet Burak Erdoğan, son of then-Istanbul mayor and future president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; she died five days later, on 16 May, after surgery in hospital. Although it was alleged the driver had no licence at the time, a court ultimately cleared him and held Tanürek solely responsible for the collision; her husband Ahmet publicly rejected the compensation offered, saying money could not buy forgiveness, while her son Cavit withdrew his complaint before the case concluded.

Her death has repeatedly resurfaced in Turkish political and media debate in the years since, including a 2018 presidential candidate's reference to it and a 2026 arrest over remarks recalling the case. In 2007 a song contest was established in her memory.