Nuray Hafiftas

Nuray Hafiftaş (1962–2018) was a Turkish folk singer, composer, and bağlama virtuoso of Azerbaijani–Turkish descent. Born in Ardahan and raised in Istanbul, she studied at the Turkish Music State Conservatory and later worked as a state artist and TRT radio performer. Her music combined Turkish folk, Arabesque, Sufi, and Azerbaijani styles, and she released over a dozen albums with more than 100 original songs, including hits like "Değirmen Başında Vurdular Beni" (1993) and "Toza Döndüm" (2005). Many of her compositions were covered by popular Turkish artists. Hafiftaş passed away from cancer in 2018 and was buried in Istanbul with a state funeral.