Turkish Pop

Turkish pop is popular music sung in Turkish, formed from the 1960s as Western pop, rock and disco arrangements were fused with Turkish folk and classical melodies, makam inflections and instruments such as bağlama, darbuka and kanun. After an early era of aranjman, adapted foreign hits with Turkish lyrics, an original repertory emerged through singers such as *Ajda Pekkan* and *Sezen Aksu*, whose songwriting defined the genre's adult mainstream. From the 1990s, producers combined arabesk colouring, dance rhythms and global pop production, and stars including *Tarkan* and *Sertab Erener* carried Turkish pop to international audiences.