About the artist
Hasan Sağlam was born on 25 October 1972 in Tunceli (the new name for what was previously called Dersim). He began singing as a student in primary school, and also used to sing while looking after sheep. He wrote his first song when he was 13 years old, while starting to play the balgama instrument.

Hasan Sağlam tells:
“I had a childhood which passed by looking at people who were carrying weapons. As we grew up, the load on our shoulders became increasing heavy. News about deaths, smell of gunpowder. First forests were burned, then villages. Our village was burnt in 1994. This was when our journey to exile started. All songs that I have been singing transfers me to my childhood, and the childhood of my father. The execuation of Seyid Rıza. The blood which was bleeding through Lac River, keys of mountains, and exiles.”

Hasan Sağlam started working as a professional musicial in Burs when he and Haydar Mollu founded a ten-person musicial group named Mayıs Türküsü (Song of May) in 1996. While we were running on the musicial life the death of our friend Hasan Mollu was interrupted us.

The group seperated when Hasan Mollu died. Some members of the band moved to European countries, while Hasan Sağlam moved to İstanbul in 2001 where he recorded his first solo album in Kurdish, entitled ‘Vengdais’ (‘Hollering’). In 2003, he wrote and recorded the song ‘Dersim Çığlığı’ (‘Screaming of Dersim’).

In 2005, Hasan Sağlam had his first poetry book published by Ceylan Publish-House, entitled ‘Dersim, Where and How Shall I Hide?’

One of his most recents works is the song ‘Veng u Vaz’ (‘Word and Voice’) published by Iber Music.

About the Munzur Festival
Munzur is the name of a valley in the province of Tunceli. It is considered one of most beautiful valleys in Turkey. The Turkish government plans to build eight dams in the valley to produce electricity. Citizens of Tunceli, however — scientists, actors, actresses, writers, and intellectualls — believe that the Munzur Dams will not support fraternity of Turkey, it will only destroy the nature of the area.

So since 2001 the Tunceli Municipality has been organising the Munzur Festival to protest against the building of the dams, and to create a general awareness in the society about the issue. The festival takes place annually in August, and includes seminar, lectures, panel debates as well as concerts.

About Dersim and its rebellion
On 1 November 1936, during a speech in parliament, Turkeys leader Atatürk said that Dersim was Turkey’s most important internal problem. During the Ottoman period, the authorities had been unable to make the Dersim pay taxes or recognise any authority other than their own. This situation continued in the early years of the Turkish Republic which had been founded by Atatürk. In an Interior Ministry report in 1926, it was stated that it was considered necessary to use force against Dersim.

During 1937 and 1938 there was an uprising in Dersim. It can actually be seen as two different uprisings, separated by a hard winter. The first uprising went from late March 1937 to November 1937, while the second began in April 1938 and lasted until December 1938. Labelled as ‘The Dersim Rebellion’ the two uprisings were led by the local traditional Kizilbash elites, at the head of whom stood Seyit Riza, chief of the Abasusagi tribe. Local intellectual cadres also played a role in the uprising’s leadership, according to one source.

After the revolt which was brutally defeated, authorities changed the name to Tunceli.

Busdriver accused
In another similar case, a Kurdish busdriver has recently been taken to court for playing a Kurdish song in his bus. He was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, just like Hasan Sağlam, and also in this case has the declaration of the sentence been postponed.