Turkish President Listened to Sari Gelin in Armenian

On May 6 Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul paid a visit to the Eskisehir to participate in commemoration ceremonies devoted to the famous Turkish poet Yunus Emre.

In President’s honor, according to the local Turkish daily Milliyet, an Antakia choir performed in Armenian the song Sari Gelin – a well-known and widely-loved in Turkey.

Sari Gelin is a folk song popular in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Iran and Iraq. The origin of the song is uncertain, though it is believed to have an Armenian origin. The song is known in Turkey to be based on a story similar to Romeo & Juliet, where a Muslim Turkish man falls in love with a Christian Armenian girl. In Turkey, Sari Gelin is often used in documentaries or television programs about Armenians, and is somewhat recognized as a mourning song for the tragedy that befell the two nations.

Sari Gelin has many different lyrical interpretations in many languages, but the melody remains unchanged. Whether the name "Sari Gelin" refers to a blonde bride, a girl/bride of the mountains, or simply a bride in yellow garments is unknown since the history and precise origin of many songs, originally belonging to oral folk traditions such as Sari Gelin, are difficult to determine. A controversial documentary with the same title as the song (due to it being linked to Armenians in Turkey) was distributed in Turkish schools which shows the official Turkish version of the Armenian Genocide.