IZMIR, Turkey
Turkish president, prime minister and main opposition party leader offered their condolences for the late classical singer Muzeyyen Senar, who died aged 96 at a hospital in Izmir Sunday morning.
"I have learned the death of our esteemed artist in deep sorrow," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a statement on Sunday.
"Senar, who has left deep marks in our culture and art life with her work will always be remembered with affection and respect," Erdogan said.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Senar was a doyenne of Turkish art world. "I offer my condolences to her family, fans and the country's art world," said Davutoglu.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of main opposition Republican People's Party, said he felt great sorrow for the death of the famous singer.
"She upset us with her departure and the whole Turkey," Kilicdaroglu said in his condolence message.
Muzeyyen Senar's singing career spanned half a century, from 1933 to 1983.
Senar was at the Izmir Ege University Medical School Hospital since February 2, her daughter Feraye Isil said.
According to Isil, the legendary singer died of health complications resulting from pneumonia. Doctors pronounced Senar dead at 7:30 a.m., she added.
Senar was born on July 16, 1918, in Bursa province during Ottoman rule. She began her musical career in 1931 at the Anadolu Musiki Cemiyeti or the Anatolia Musical Association in Uskudar, Istanbul, and retired from singing in 1983. She sang to the Turkish Republic’s founder, Ataturk, before his demise in 1938.
In 2013, Senar received Turkey’s Culture and Arts Grand Award, presented annually by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
