New album by Hozan Hogir to be released by his family

New album by Hozan Hogir to be released by his family

The new album of appreciated Kurdish musician Hozan Hogir will be released soon. It is an anthology gathered from his records in the archive of his family.

Hozan Hogir joined the guerrilla in 1998 and was found buried in a mass grave together with his 40 comrades, including German internationalist Andrea Wolf, who lost their life in the same year in Çatak, a district of Van.

In his piece 'Dîrok', Hozan Hogir sent greetings from mountains to Angola, Palestine, Kurdistan and Cuba in 1990's when he stood shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed in the freedom struggle of Kurds. With his verse "Li Vîetnam, li Kûba û Angola li Çipas'in û li Filîsînê.../ Em alevin, agirin û petin.../Em dîrokin tim li Kurdistan'ê", Hogir built a bridge with the international solidarity in the mountains of revolution around the world.

Hogir's brother Cevdet Tatar said that they had decided to release an album with Hogir's name and voice after the discovery of his burial place. Tatar noted that the album, which will consist of the songs that Hogir had recorded before he joined the guerrilla, will be released by KOM music in a few months.

Noting that he and Hogir had moved to Aydın, a province in West, where they formed a music band after the primary school, Tatar said that "We were taken into custody during Newroz celebrations in 1995. Later, I joined the army to do the military service while Hogir joined the MKM (Mesopotamia Cultural Center)and made music there for three years. I also joined the MKM after the military service and stayed there for two months when our friends started to say that Hogir was in a difficult situation and that he was being threatened. Hogir was also saying that his documents were ready to go to Europe where 'he needed to go in any case' he told me. Soon after, he called me one day and said 'I am going' and we had no further contact for six or seven months when the friends at MKM were saying that he was in Russia. Then, a friend from İzmir came and said that Hogir died a martyr in 1998. I hurriedly went to İzmir, looked for information and searched and we found out that it wasn't he who died. Not long after that, a friend came to us and told my mother that he had died a martyr. My mother also died after a heart attack she had soon after receiving this news."

HOZAN HOGİR

The appreciated Kurdish musician Hozan Hogir was born in 1974 in Tatvan district of Bitlis where he however couldn't stay due to economic problems. While Hogir and his brothers moved to Aydın province and started making music, from which they also made a living by playing at wedding ceremonies, Hogir faces follow-up and repression following his detention in Newroz celebrations in 1995.

While Hogir this time moved to İstanbul where he performed more professional music works at MKM, he put his signature under an album of memorable pieces. Not left in piece by follow-up and repression on one side and the matter of military service on the other side, Hogir finds a temporary solution by carrying the identity card of his brother Cevdet Tatar. When this didn't help either after a short time, Hogir takes mountains for solution.