Turkish folk music (türkü)

The türkü is the Anatolian folk song. It falls into two broad groups: free-rhythm uzun hava (such as the bozlak) and kırık hava in a fixed metre. Every region has its own dialect, instruments and dance tunes.

In the 20th century Muzaffer Sarısözen and his colleagues travelled Anatolia village by village and recorded thousands of türküs. TRT's folk music repertoire and the "Yurttan Sesler" choir grew out of this work.

Performers such as Âşık Veysel, Neşet Ertaş, Ruhi Su, Belkıs Akkale and Arif Sağ brought the türkü to the city and the concert stage, and today türküs find new life in rock, pop and jazz arrangements.