ANKARA
Nearly half a century since his passing, Asik Veysel, a torchbearer of Turkish folk poetry bard culture, is still remembered for his verses championing peace, harmony and unity in society.
Veysel Satiroglu, widely known as Asik Veysel, was born in the central Anatolian province of Sivas in 1894. At the age of only seven, he lost the use of one of his eyes due to smallpox and was left completely blind after losing the other in an accident.
Though deprived of his ability to see, Veysel continued to engage with the world through his poems and songs, with his