Rudaw.net | Karwan Faidhi Dri

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Beytocan, a legendary Kurdish singer, passed away in a Swedish hospital on Monday, after a long fight against jaw bone cancer. He had wished to spend his last days in the Kurdistan Region and see an independent Kurdish state but these dreams never came true. 

Beytullah Guneri, best known as Beytocan, was born to a religious family in the Kurdish province of Amed (Diyarbakir), southeast Turkey in 1955. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail on political grounds during the 1980 coup but only served six and a half years. He migrated to Sweden in 1991, spending the rest of his life there. 

His father, a sheik, did not allow him to sing while he was alive. 

The legendary artist suffered from jaw bone cancer, spending months in a Swedish hospital. He died in the hospital on Monday but the news of his death broke out the next day. 

“His condition deteriorated in the last week. The cancer had gotten worse … making him unable to speak,” his brother, Adar Can, told Rudaw on Tuesday, adding that Beytocan’s eyes remained closed in his last three days. 

According to his will, he wanted to be buried in Sweden rather than Amed but his family will nevertheless hold a wake in his hometown as well, the singer’s brother said. 

“He said that he wished to live in Kurdistan if he recovered from the disease,” Adar cited his brother as saying. He wanted to see a free Kurdistan before he died and he was hopeful that another generation would see this in the future, added his brother, referring to Greater Kurdistan which includes southeast Turkey, western Iran, northeast Syria (Rojava) and the Kurdistan Region.

Beytocan told Rudaw in 2021 that he wanted to spend the remaining years of his life in the Kurdistan Region but he could not because his health condition deteriorated. 

“I want to live there [Kurdistan]. I cannot do anything here. I know that the situation in Bakur [southeast Turkey] will not suit me, as I might get hurt there. Bashur (Kurdistan Region) is suitable for me. I want to live there if they accept me,” he said. 

In his lifetime Beytocan published four albums and many of his songs have been sung by younger singers in different styles. All of the artist's performances were exclusively acoustic.

“Everything is a lie, the world is mortal. What you took and what you brought?” goes one of his famous and most widely sung songs,  Her Tişt Vire [Everything is a lie]. 

Kurdish singers and leaders sent their condolences to Beytocan’s family for the loss. 

“The Kurdish great artist Beytocan will always be in our hearts,” said Kurdish singer Ciwan Haco in a post on X (formerly Twitter).   

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said Beytocan was a top star in Kurdish music, adding that “he will always be remembered.”