Celebrities of The City

Those who are from Hatay, raise your hands please! We have compiled a list of talented artists from this beautiful city. Let’s see who is on the list!

Kalben

Kalben, one of the most popular names of recent years, was born on January 17, 1986 in İskenderun district of Hatay. The singer has songs in indie rock and alternative rock genres and graduated from the Department of International Relations, Bilkent University in 2007. The next year, she did her master’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies in the Department of Graphic Design of the same university and completed in 2011. Kalben official began her career in singing in 2014 and is a singer from Hatay who has been praised by thousands in Turkey.

Şebnem Sönmez

Şebnem Sönmez, with an incredible stalent, who most of us know from the 7 Numara TV series broadcasted on TRT 1 channel when we were young, is an actress who took part in countless projects. Sönmez was born on June 5, 1968 and graduated from İstanbul University State Conservatory. He served as a Drama Teacher in many schools in 1985 and established her own art and acting school in 1993 and continued her activities here.

İsmail Köybaşi

Attention football lovers! İsmail Köybaşı, one of the most popular players in Turkish National Football Team is also from Hatay! He was born on July 10, 1989 and began his professional football life in İskenderunspor when he was 16. After that, he played in Gaziantepspor PAF and he was included in the national team when he was only 18. He was one of the unforgettable names of Beşiktaş from 2009 to 016 and after that, the talented player started playing in Fenerbahçe. İsmail Köybaşı managed to wear the youth national uniform for 9 times.

Atiye

Atiye is from Hatay, although she was born in Bremen, Germany. She was born on November 22, 1988 and gained game in Turkey with her debut Don’t Think in 2007. She took dancing and piano lessons from an early age and made a final return to Turkey in 2008. She maintained vocal training with baritone Aşkın Metiner, a singing pedagogue from the İzmir State Opera and Ballet, and she was awarded the Best Single of the Year in the 4^th Dilek Awards of Yeditepe University in 2016.

Tomris Giritlioğlu

A scenarist, director, project designer and producer, Tomris Giritlioğlu is also from Hatay. She was born in 1955, and did a double major in the Departments of English Language and Literature and Philosophy in Hacettepe University. She passed the direction exam in 1979 and took her first step in cinema, Giritlioğlu was awarded the Best Film with the movie she directed, “Mrs. Salkım’s Diamonds” in Altın Portakal Film Festival organized in Antalya in 1999.

Yunus Bülbül

Yunus Bülbül, a popular name in arabesque music, who died at the age of 84, was also from Hatay. He got on the stage for countless times throughout his music career and did some acting too. He released 36 CDs and 4 vinyls and took part in 64 films and 31 series.

Selami Şahin

The lead singers take the stage the last, so we kept the lead singer to the end of the list. The amazing singer, Selami Şahin, who was born on August 15, 1948 in Yayladağı district of Hatay, is famous for his singer, composer and lyricist career. Such a talented artist, Selami Şahin has inspired his peers and many generations, stole many hearts with his single Sabır Taşı, and he is still among the most wanted names in Turkey.