{"id":2732,"date":"2021-09-21T08:43:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T05:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.istanbulberlin.com\/?p=2732"},"modified":"2021-09-21T09:18:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T06:18:00","slug":"yarinistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.istanbulberlin.com\/en-de\/yarinistan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Journey Through Time to Bygone Tomorrows: Yar\u0131nistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
In our articles on the 1961-90 era, we\u2019ve already touched upon the introverted nature of the Turkish music industry in Germany, and in fact went a step beyond to compare the music industries of Germany and Turkey to parallel universes. Let\u2019s just say that exceptions prove the rule, because in the following interview we will be sharing with you one of the few overlaps that have ever occurred between those universes.<\/h6>\n
Frontman Nedim Hazar shares with #60JahreMusik the story of Yar\u0131nistan, the band that made its mark on the disco charts of the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s with its ethnic rock songs and on history with four albums, over 200 concerts and a German Record Critics\u2019 Award. The group was founded by Geo Schaller<\/a> together with Nedim Hazar<\/a>, who was also the soloist.<\/h6>\n
He is also making a project to bring different generations in Germany together on a stage, \"Deutschlandlieder: German Folk Songs<\/a>\". Also his newly released book<\/a> that is entitled with the same name of the project looks through the Turkish culture since the recruitment agreement. And according to Murat G\u00fcng\u00f6r and Hannes Loh, \u201cHazar even began rapping before his son [Eko Fresh] did. In \u2018Ali-Rap<\/a>\u2019 \u2013 the more interesting B-side of \u2018Sieh mich an\u2019 (1990) \u2013 Hazar raps ironic observations on life in Germany over electronic percussion.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/h6>\n

Translated to English by Zeynep Beler.<\/p>\n

\"Nedim

Nedim Hazar \u00a9 Stephan Lucka<\/p><\/div>\n

If we\u2019re going to be talking about the late 80\u2019s and early 90\u2019s, that\u2019s when we really began setting an example for burgeoning and prospective artists. We also did a few musicals. There was a massive surge in Islamophobia here around the time of the Gulf War. Drawing inspiration from the title of Woody Allen\u2019s renowned film, we prepared a musical named \u201cAlles was Sie schon immer \u00fcber die Islam Wissen Wollten\u201d (Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Islam But Were Afraid to Ask\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our second musical was titled \u201cDieses Gericht enth\u00e4lt keine Schweinefleisch\u201d (\u201cOur Dishes Do Not Contain Pork\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So you see, I feel like we set a precedent in a lot of places we went because these issues weren\u2019t really on Germany\u2019s agenda at the time. In terms of music, Metin T\u00fcrkoz, Y\u00fcksel \u00d6zkasap, and Derdiyoklar sold many records but mostly stayed on their own turf.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Only Cem Karaca transcended the limits of Turkish music but, as you know, he returned to Turkey later on. So for a while we were the only ones on the scene.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Accused of \u201cinciting strike through accordion-playing\u201d, Nedim Hazar fled from the military junta of the 1980\u2019s to Germany. In 1983, he founded a band with musicians he met while acting in the city theater, a Turkish-German band in the professional sense of the word. Germans formed the band\u2019s majority and their oeuvre was composed mostly of German songs. \u201cMorgenland\u201d is German for the Orient and becomes \u201ctomorrowland\u201d when directly translated, the Turkish from which the band in turn derived its name: Yar\u0131nistan. Their first record was released in 1986 with the title \u201cMorgenland\/Yar\u0131nistan\u201d, and they dropped Morgenland shortly after.<\/p>\n

Before the Wall<\/h6>\n

\u201cBefore the wall came down, there was a spectacular peace movement known as \u2018K\u00fcnstler f\u00fcr den Frieden\u2019 in which almost everyone, every big name from Udo Lindenberg to BAP, was involved. I myself was part of the movement\u2019s Board of Directors, which meant that I was in close contact with the German musicians in the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for Turks, Fuat Saka was also here at the time. We had performed in concert with him a few times in the early days of Yar\u0131nistan. Burhan \u00d6\u00e7al was in Sweden at the time, so we were in touch with him also.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their most popular song, \u201cMax und G\u00fclistan\u201d, tells a version of Romeo & Juliet that takes place between immigrants and Germans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur second most popular song is the rather tongue-in-cheek \u2018T\u00fcrken Sind froh\u2019 about Turkish workers, and was quite an incendiary song for its time. There\u2019s a saying in German, \u2018Zigeuner sind lustig,\u2019 meaning, \u2018Gypsies are cheerful\u2019. We were inspired by that. The lyrics go:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gypsies are cheerful, Turks are happy\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

They drink lots of rak\u0131 and clean the lavatory<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n