Zilan Tigris

Zilan Tigris — Biography

Zilan Tigris (Armenian: Զիլան Տիգրիս; 1972, Diyarbakır - 6 February 2023, Diyarbakır) was a Turkish folk singer of Armenian descent. Only the year of her birth is recorded; no day or month appears in any source. Her stage surname echoed the Latin name of the Tigris, the river that runs past her home city.

The Turkish Wikipedia article describes her specifically as a folk music singer, while the Russian, Romanian and Bulgarian entries agree in calling her a Turkish singer of Armenian origin. She lived in Diyarbakır, where she was born, and was a familiar figure in the city's music scene.

She was killed in the earthquake of 6 February 2023, buried in the rubble of a collapsed building in Diyarbakır together with her husband, the actor Çağdaş Çankaya. National outlets followed the search for several days before reporting on 12 February that both bodies had been recovered. The couple's death, widely covered because Çankaya was known from the series Kuruluş Osman, was felt across the Turkish arts world.