# Ahmet Kaya

By [ebram](https://paragraph.com/@ebram) · 2023-06-14

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**Ahmet Kaya** (28 October 1957[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Kaya#cite_note-official-1) – 16 November 2000) was a Turkish–[Kurdish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds) folk singer.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Kaya#cite_note-2) Kaya was persecuted by Turkish nationalist celebrities and authorities. Kaya left Turkey in an act of self-[exile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile), and moved to [France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France), where he would shortly after die of a heart attack.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Kaya#cite_note-:3-3)

He was granted the Musician of the Year Award in February 1999 during a controversial award ceremony involving Turkey's most popular singers, at which he declared that he wanted to sing a song in [Kurdish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_languages).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Kaya#cite_note-4)

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