He was born in 1967 in Maçka, a district of Trabzon on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. After completing his primary and secondary education in Maçka, he entered the Turkish Music State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University in 1983–1984. In 1987 he presented the folk songs he had collected in the region on the album Suların Horon Yeri. He graduated from the conservatory in 1988 and began a master’s degree in social sciences at the same university that year.
His first album, Efulim, followed in 1991–1992. In October 1994 he released Gelir misin Benimle, then Volkanik Parçalar, and in April 1998 Pedaliza.
He joined the DMC label in 2000 and released Şimal Rüzgarı. Maranda followed in 2003, Mora in 2006, Mimoza in 2009, Lifor in 2012 and Manolya in 2015.