Serpil Barlas

Serpil Barlas — Biography

Turkish pop singer Serpil Barlas made her name in the 1970s with Oldu Olanlar and later used her songs to draw attention to AIDS, street children and the war in Bosnia. Also known as Serpil Dikmen, she was the daughter of the singer Aysel İpar. She died in Istanbul in February 2021.

She appeared on stage with the city theaters as a child, then turned to music and sang as a soloist with orchestras of the day. In 1970 she placed in the top three at the Altın Ses (Golden Voice) contest, which Nilüfer won. On the singles she recorded between 1976 and 1978 were songs such as Hangisi, Biricik Sevgilim and Dert Etmem Kendime. In the 1978 Turkish Eurovision final she performed Yaşamana Bak with the group İkinci Baskı. The same year she settled in the United States, where she lived for about fifteen years.

After returning to Turkey in 1993 she worked as a pioneering voice in the fight against AIDS; on albums made with the support of Uğur Dikmen she took up these causes in Benim Adım İnsan, Sahipsiz Çocuklar and Bosna. She released the albums Serpil'in Dünyası (1994) and Efkarım Tarumar (1998), and from 1998 to 2001 she wrote and presented the Flash TV program Serpil Barlas'la Kurdele. She also acted in two feature films. She was buried at Feriköy Cemetery on February 22, 2021.