Yener Yılmazoğlu was born in 1958 as the fourth child of the family in the Çıldır district of Ardahan province. His father's name is Medet, and his mother's name is Sine. He completed his primary and high school education in Çıldır. During middle school, Yılmazoğlu developed an interest in poetry, and after high school, he met Murat Çobanoğlu at the Minstrels’ Coffeehouse in Kars, where he became an apprentice and learned to play the saz. He was raised in an environment where various regional events were held and prominent minstrels gathered, winning many awards in the competitions he attended. He later moved to Istanbul, continued his artistic life there, and became known among expatriate audiences. He transferred his musical competence into folk songs, albums, and film projects.

^{Minstrel Yener Yılmazoğlu (Anadolu Agency)}

Artistic Contributions

Yener Yılmazoğlu has also been active in cinema besides the tradition of folk minstrelsy. In the 1990s, he played leading roles in the films Bitmeyen Kin and Güneşe Merdiven, shot in Kars and Ardahan, reflecting minstrelsy through cinema. With his performance in these films, he gained recognition in the field of cinema as well. Later, he adapted the lives and cultural values of Anatolian folk minstrels into cinema in the movie Ozan, for which he wrote the script. He released the album Ah Çekerim, prepared with modern infrastructure, without disturbing the traditional understanding of music. This album is a work that preserves the classical structure of folk music while blending it with contemporary arrangements. He also directed the music video for one of the songs in the album, contributing to its visual presentation.

Yılmazoğlu reached large audiences with folk music pieces such as Ben Anadolu’yum, Anama Layla, and Köyde Galdı. In these works, he expressed the emotional world of Anatolian people with a simple and effective narration. He undertook the production and presentation of the program Sarı Tel, which has been broadcast on Meltem TV for over five years, bringing folk music and minstrel culture to television screens. Through this program, he contributed to the cultural promotion of the Kars, Ardahan, and Iğdır regions. Emphasizing his Ardahan and Çıldır roots in every setting, Yılmazoğlu plays a role in promoting regional culture with his artistic productions.

Minstrelsy Tradition

One of the traditional oral culture elements of Anatolia, the tradition of minstrelsy is carried on from generation to generation through couplets accompanied by the saz, conveying themes such as love, longing, affection, and divine love. This cultural structure still survives today through some folk minstrels. As one of the contemporary representatives of this tradition, Yener Yılmazoğlu organized an event to promote Lake Çıldır, which freezes over in winter and hosts horse-drawn sleighs. During the event, he sang folk songs standing or sitting on the frozen lake surface, offering audiences a visual and auditory experience. In this natural stage set against snow-covered mountains, the reflections of the sky on the ice added visual depth to the event.

^{Minstrel Yener Yılmazoğlu on Lake Çıldır (Anadolu Agency)}