Tarkan Turkish Media Updates Extra

By Adelind Osmanlı reporting from Munich, Germany

Russian pop star Sergey Zverev in Antalya to film a pop video talks about Tarkan

In an extra post of news articles summarised for the blog's readers in relation to Tarkan, Turkish newspaper Milliyet has published an interview with Russian hairstylist turned pop star Sergey Zverev in which he calls Tarkan "a world star".

Finding his image and style very successful, Zverev is quoted as saying, "With his look, his style and his videos, Tarkan proved a long time ago that he is a world star. Everyone in Russia knows who he is, and I think this is true in a lot of countries."

Meanwhile, as Tarkan gets praise for rumours about penning a song for the children victims of the recent war in Gaza, he is also criticised for his new signed act Emir resembling him so closely - making the correspondent wonder whether Tarkan is using the new singer for his own promotion.

And in other reports, as Turkish media portal Haberturk reports today that a music video for Tarkan's collaboration with friend Sibel Can on her 2009 album will be filmed in two days time, magazine journalist Ali Eyüboğlu mentions Tarkan in his Milliyet column in connection with a radio commercial that has used the singer's song "Salına Salına Sinsice" (Ölürüm Sana, 1997), wondering where there has been a breach of copyright (29 May 2009).

Plus, entertainment correspondent Vehbi Dinçcan, writing for Güneş in his 25 June 2009 dated column, claims that singer Serdar Ortaç will be working with Tarkan's music production company HITT in a deal with the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) for its weekly lottery show - describing it as Tarkan-Ortaç partnership - while elsewhere in Güneş, Neslihan Yavuzcan's 14 June interview with singer Özgün sees the artist airing his views on the famous Turkish pop star.

In response to a loaded question by the female reporter about talented musicians like Tarkan "disappearing from view", Özgün wouldn't be led, expressing that Tarkan was far from over.

"Tarkan's responsibilities were too much, everyone expected far too much from him. People made out he was over, and it even confused him so much, he just didn't know what he wanted any more ... But he's even supporting other singers now."

And Finally...

Newspaper Vatan reports the story (see left pic) that a book is set to be published of famous people from Rize since the Ottoman era.

Headlined as "Two Thousand Celebrities from Rize", the 8 June 2009 article writes that included in the book will be names such as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish pop diva Sezen Aksu and Tarkan.

Long-term Tarkan fans will know that Tarkan's connection with the province in the Turkish Black Sea region is through his father, who was buried in his home village in the region after his sudden death in 1995.

<< An Exclusive Show | Tarkan News Index | The Day the Music Died >>