For visa renewal I used to take the 'motorlu' train from Sirkici to Edirne, crossing the famous Uzun Köprü on the way. I would then hire a 'payton' to take me to the border. I could pay the driver to wait for me while I walked across the border to Greece; have a glass of tea in the small Greek border town, walk back across the border to Turkey where, an hour or so later, he would be waiting faithfully to take me back to Edirne. Then I'd take the 'motorlu' back to Istanbul. A most pleasurable trip every time!
Can one still hire a payton these days?

"When I saw it I thought that the sounds were fake, just edited by some pc-freak, because I have seen that show and I cant remember being stunned by this..." quote

Perhaps you are correct deli_kizin. I should not have posted that clip, as it has little to do with the original thread.

azade, I agree with you. I don't much like this mix either.
It's too much influenced by 'world music' trends. I much prefer contemporary Turkish singers who reflect traditional sanat and halk styles. But, there it is.

tulumba.com lists several CD's of tasavvuf, or sufi music by various artists.

'A few etymologies for the word Sufi(Arabic: تصوف', taṣawwuf‎ - Kurdish: 'sofîtî, f' - Persian: تصوف, Sufi gari‎ - Turkish: 'Tasavvuf') or Irfan Arabic/Persian: عرفان (from Wikipedia)

Atlantic Records has an excellent site up: "Remembering Ahmet Ertegün" with photographs, video, and time-line.

http://www.atlanticrecords.com/ahmet/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Ertegun

He was buried December 18 2006 in the Garden of Sufi Tekke, Özbekler Tekkesi in Sultantepe, Ãœsküdar, İstanbul, next to his brother Nasuhi Ertegün, his father Münir Ertegün and his shaikh great-grandfather Şeyh İbrahim Edhem Efendi, who was once the head of the tekke in his native Turkey.

http://www.putumayo.com/catalog/item.php?item_number=248-2

Artist/ Song Sample

Bendeniz/ Kirmizi Biber
Mustafa Sandal/ Kalmadi
Sertab/ Buda
Nilgül/ Piş Pişla
Tarkan/ Dudu
Gülseren/ Şinanay
Emrah/ Kusursuzsun
Göksel/ Ayrilik Günü
Tuğba Ekinci/ Oha Falan Oldum Yani
Nazan Öncel/ Atiyosun
Sezen Aksu/ Şanima Inanma

"In 2005, Putumayo’s head of A&R, Jacob Edgar traveled to Istanbul to immerse himself in Turkey’s culture and discover its music. Though its cities are filled with the ancient architecture of its long history, Turkey is considered one of the most modern Muslim countries in the world. This cultural juxtaposition is most evident in Turkey’s contemporary pop music scene, where classical traditions and instrumentation blend with sophisticated global pop and dance music. Putumayo World Music’s newest release, Turkish Groove, reflects this unique musical mosaic..."

To listen to the sample tracks, you must have RealPlayer
installed on your computer.

'I see. It is really "ATAsözü"! The book is from 1963!'
And cost less than one dollar US! Fena değil...