MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – Kotî Yo Lacê Mi (Where is my son?) is a Kirmanckî /Zazakî (a dialect of the Kurdish language) song. Singer Derya Cengiz shot a music video for this song. “The songs I sing are my return story to self,” Derya Cengiz, who spent her life away from her language and culture because her family emigrated from Dersim when she was only four years old due to social and economic reasons, said. Stating that her longing for her language has led her to art music after years, Derya Cengiz said that her musical journey will continue.

She grew up with a longing for her language and culture

Singer Derya Deniz was born in the Hozat district of Dersim. Her family emigrated from their homeland to the western cities of Turkey when she was four years old. She spent 20 years far away from her homeland. She said that she has longed for her culture since her family left their homeland. She shot a music video for a Zazakî lamenting song of a mother in Dersim to fulfill her longing. Drawing attention to that when her musical journey started, she began to get closer to her culture, Derya Deniz continued to talk as follows:

“We have always longed for my culture and language because of my distance from where I was born. When people have to stay away from their own culture and language for years, they have faced difficulties in remembering them. There is a longing inside you and you try to cover that longing. That longing made me return to my homeland. After returning to my homeland, I worked as a nurse while being engaged in music.”

“I received music education at the Ciğerxwin Academy”

After beginning her musical journey, Derya Deniz worked with famous Kurdish singers such as Mizgin Tahir and Mehmûd Berazî in Diyarbakır. She received music education at the Ciğerxwin Academy and was a member of the Hasankeyf Orchestra for seven years. “After being appointed to here (Diyarbakır) as a nurse, I felt that I needed to do something in my mother language. Since then, I have sung Zazaki, Kurmançki, and Sorani songs. Singing songs makes me feel good. I can say that the songs I sing are my return story to self, to my homeland.”

“My musical journey will continue”

Stating that her musical journey will continue with songs in her mother language, Derya Cengiz said, “I will continue to sing songs in my mother language as long as I can. Singing Zazaki songs is an unfulfilled desire in my heart. As I mentioned before, I spent my childhood away from my own mountains and my own rivers. This language means my past, my childhood, my memories; all of them are hidden in this language. And I want to continue my musical journey, particularly in my own language, the language I heard from my mother.”

The link of Kotî Yo Lacê Mi (Where is my son?) song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htq4mIUxfvA