Famous Kurdish singer and musician Aynur Doğan holds concert in Soran

SORAN — Renowned Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan performed a concert in Erbil’s Soran city on Friday, drawing a large crowd of enthusiastic fans after another concert in the Zakho district of Duhok. Organized by the Soran Independent Administration, the event took place at Bonakan Hall and started at 6 p.m., lasting more than an hour.

Inside the hall, attendees were vibrant and fully engaged, with one participant remarking, “I feel drunk without wine.” Doğan captivated the audience with her powerful and emotive performances, creating an immersive experience.

During the concert, Doğan performed some of her most famous songs, including “Keçe Kurdan” and “Dar Hejîrokê.”

In an interview with 964media, Doğan discussed the challenges of singing in Kurdish in Turkey. “There are still obstacles to singing in Kurdish in Turkey, although sometimes they claim that Kurds have rights to hold their concerts,” she said, linking these issues to broader state policies and the political atmosphere in Turkey toward Kurds.

“Music and art belong to everyone. I sing in my own language, the language of my parents, and this is a problem for them,” Doğan added. “In Turkey, people like my voice and musical style, but since I sing in my mother tongue, Kurdish, it creates issues.”

As one of the most prominent Kurdish female singers, Doğan conveyed a message to Kurdish women through 964media, encouraging them to “always believe in themselves, trust in their strength, their spirit, and their intellect, and to always hold their heads high.”

Doğan, born in 1975 in Tunceli province in Turkey’s majority Kurdish regions, released her first album, “Seyir,” in 2002.