Istanbul ( CNN ) -- Turkish singer and actor Ibrahim Tatlises was in critical condition Monday after being shot in the head by unknown assailants early Monday morning , his doctor said on television . Tatlises , who has millions of fans in Turkey and the Middle East , was shot in the right side of his brain and underwent surgery , Dr. Ilhan Elmaci said in front of the Acibadem Hospital . Tatlises and his spokeswoman , Buket Cakici , were shot as they left the building housing private Turkish television channel Beyaz TV following Tatlises ' weekly television show . Cakici was in stable condition , doctors said . Tatlises will be kept `` asleep '' for 24 hours , Elmaci said , adding that his left side was paralyzed upon his arrival at the hospital . Elmaci said he does not believe that Tatlises will have problems with speech , as the side of the head that was injured does not control speech abilities . Tatlises , 59 , comes from Turkey 's mostly Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Sanliurfa . He also is a businessman who owns restaurants and music , television production and tourism businesses . He has been involved in construction projects in northern Iraq . Known as `` Emperor '' and `` Ibo , '' Tatlises has more than 30 albums and has acted in and directed more than a dozen movies . He has no formal education and once quipped : `` If there had been an Oxford ( University ) in Sanliurfa , I would have gone there . '' Tatlises was at the height of his entertainment career in the 1980s when he acted in more than a dozen films , directed and writing several of them , according to the Internet Movie Database . CNN 's Talia Kayali contributed to this report .
Ibrahim Tatlises was shot early Monday . The shooting happened at a home in the 5200 block of South Hermitage Avenue The unknown gunmen attacked as Tatlises left a TV station with a spokeswoman .