Fazıl Say attacks listeners of 'arabesk' music

Twitter works as an outlet of rage against Fazıl Say. Say’s attack was on the listeners of arabesk' music, going so far as to call them ‘traitors’

Fazıl Say might just be the musician with the greatest global recognition modern Turkey has seen. He is definitely one the most accomplished composers and pianists. Say wrote his first piano sonata at the age of fourteen. He has played with the New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and been making music for nearly three decades now.

In the isolated world of classical music, Say has managed with great success to incorporate themes that are culturally relevant to Turkish culture and history. The Nazım Oratorio, an ode to the famous poet who spent most of his adult life in exile only to become a national treasure after his death, the Requiem for Metin Altıok, another poet brutally killed in 1993, Nasreddin Hoca’s Dances for Piano, and Silence of Anatolia piano concerto are some of the renowned examples.

Say also served as the ambassador of intercultural dialogue in 2008. These all give the impression of a man who is finely tuned to the dynamics of his country, who has the necessary qualities to act as a bridge between the country he represents and the global culture he became part of a long time ago. Not exactly true.

Thanks to his Twitter account, which has been shut down and reactivated one too many times, Say’s name is now in danger of becoming synonymous with provocative, insensitive messages that raise quite the brouhaha in a country where people are far too easily offended.

Click here for full article (Hürriyet Daily News)