Asik Veysel s Contribution to the Cultural Heritage by Turning Traditional Poetry into Folk Song as both the Poet and Composer

Aşi\dotless\k Veysel, who was born in Sivrialan village of the Şarki\dotless\şla district, Sivas province in 1310 (1894/95) and died in the same village on 21 March 1971, is one of the most prominent minstrels in the twentieth century. Veysel was blind, and the first step for Veysel to be a saz virtuoso was his father s giving his son the saz "feeling that he would have a job." Veysel devoted himself to playing the saz and at first, he began to sing the poems of some of the representatives of the minstrel art, by turning their poems into folk songs, and later on, he produced his own poems to secure his position in this culture. By playing the saz, reciting other minstrels poems, composing and singing his own poems, Veysel contributed to the development of the intangible cultural heritage. In addtition to that, Veysel, contributed to the enrichment of the cultural heritage, through his turning mostly anonymous or traditional lyric poetry in every type and structure into folk song. However, his contribution is not limited to the above mentioned issues, he also provided the target audience with the opportunity to listen to him, thanks to his organizing trips for such facilities as bayrams, festivals, and meetings, his recording, and participating in the radio programmes nationwide. Further to this, by giving courses in the Village Institutes, which were training teachers previously, and by performing in applied courses and seminars at Ankara University, Faculty of Languages, History and Geography, Veysel had a profound impact on transferring the products to be used in education, created by turning traditional poetry into folk song, a great contribution to the intangible cultural heritage, to the next generations,. Veysel s influence still continues today.