Ibrahim Tatlises

Ibrahim Tatlises (born January 1, 1952) is a folk singer. Tatlises has recorded 42 albums, including notable albums such as Ayaginda Kundura and Selam Olsun and was the host of the highly popular television programme Ibo Show. He was also a leading actor that appeared in several dozen films, and also worked in the restaurant and tourism businesses. He survived an assassination attempt in 2011 after being shot in the head. Ibrahim Tatli was born in Urfa, in the southeast of Turkey. He is of mixed Arab-Kurdish ancestry. Kurdish is his mother tongue. He lost his father during childhood, and did not attend high school. He did not know how to read or write growing up. In the 1980s the Turkish government had banned the use of Kurdish; at a concert in Sweden in December 1986, he had sung folk songs in Kurdish and was thus prosecuted for separatist propaganda, but found not guilty in 1987. The charge was dismissed after he showed regret. In 1988, he was asked by businessman Mehmet Yilmaz at a cultural festival in Usak to sing a Kurdish folk song, but refused, saying "I am a Kurd, but the laws ban me for singing in Kurdish". For this, he was indicted on September 19, 1988. In 1994 there were evidence that Turkish counter-guerrilla organizations targeted Kurdish businessmen, including Tatlises, Idris Ozbir, Halis Toprak, and Necdet Ulucan. In 1998 it was reported that Tatlises offered to be an intermediary between the government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during the armed conflict. He recorded an track album with Iranian kurdish musicians Abdollah Alijani Ardeshir. In 2018, he gave public support to the Turkish military operation in Afrin against the People's Protection Units. After returning from Germany, Tatlises married Aysegül Yildiz on 27 September 2011 in the rehabilitation facility where he was receiving treatment. He sold tapes and sang at weddings and in restaurants until a producer discovered him in 1976. He had adopted Tatlises (sweet-voiced) as a stage name. Tatlises is regarded the most famous of the Arabesk singers. He is known popularly as "Ibo". He recorded an track album with iranian kurdish musicians Abdollah Alijani Ardeshir in 2008. Tatlises is involved in the restaurant and tourism businesses, as well as in construction projects with business partner Ali Sariyildiz in Iraq.