North Cyprus  
 


Raif Denktaş (1951-1985)
 Raif Denktash (1951-1985)Composer, and politician (former leader of the Social Democrat Party (SDP) of North Cyprus. Born in 1951 in Nicosia he finished his secondary education in Nicosia at the Turk Maarif College. He held a degree in economics.

During his youth he played in Cypriot bands, and composed and arranged many songs some of which are "Köprüden Geçemedim" and "Ayrılık"

Being a member of one of the earliest Turkish-Cypriot popular music bands, SILA-4, he left many songs after his death in a car crash in 1985. His music combined the local folk tunes with the Mediterranean melodies and and contemporarised them to the 1970s tunes.

The music of "Ayrılık", one of his most famous pieces, is given below:

Ayrılık

Ayrılık
Akşamdan olaydı
Şimdilik
Uçan kuşun ötmez olduğu
Ay'ın güneşe vurulduğu
Uyuyamadığım akşamdan
Ve her sabah
Seni getirseydi de
Bitmeseydi aşkımız
Akşam olmadan.

The music and lyrics of "Ayrılık", by Raif Denktaş.