Arif Şirin, commonly known as Ozan Arif ("Arif the Bard"; June 10, 1949 – February 13, 2019), was a Turkish folk music artists, composer, teacher, and bağlama performer, foremost known for his songs with lyrics propagating the Turkish nationalist cause. Life Şirin was born in his father's village Yükselen (Hapu) in Alucra district. By 1970, he had graduated from the Male Teacher's School in Ordu Province and worked as a primary school teacher in Samsun from 1970 to 1979. Following the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, he moved to Germany where he lived until his return to Turkey in 1991. He and fellow folk singer İsmail Türüt had been on trial for a song allegedly praising the assassination of Hrant Dink. Şirin and Türüt were acquitted in December 2009. Şirin died on February 13, 2019, of throat cancer in Samsun Ondokuz in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Mayıs. References External links Ozan Arif website 1949 births 2019 deaths Turkish composers Turkish lyricists Turkish folk musicians Turkish nationalists People from Alucra 20th-century Turkish male singers 21st-century Turkish male singers Nationalist musicians