Tarkan’s “Wake Up”: 2008 Song Returns for COP31 in Antalya

Tarkan is releasing his 2008 song “Uyan” to an international audience as “Wake Up,” with English lyrics and a new musical arrangement. According to Sabah columnist Hakan Üç, the project is tied to the UN climate conference COP31, which Türkiye hosts in Antalya from 9 to 20 November.

Üç writes that he was present at the video shoot in Türkiye. The column does not give a release date for the song or the clip.

Who directed the Tarkan “Wake Up” video

The video’s director is Jessy Terrero. Sabah says he has worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Maluma, Enrique Iglesias, Daddy Yankee and 50 Cent.

Üç says he met Terrero during the filming. According to the columnist, the director voiced his admiration for Tarkan and said he was very happy to work with him and to join a project like this.

Sabah describes the work as a voluntary contribution prepared for the conference. It does not name a producer or a label.

A climate message built on an older song

The column says Tarkan wants to speak about nature’s ecological balance and its harmony. He says that getting used to human-caused damage, or ignoring it, has never been an option for him.

He told Sabah he wrote “Uyan” years ago, believing the negative course could be changed together. He describes the aim of the new version as “to be the voice of nature and to call on all of us to act once more.”

Minister Murat Kurum thanks the singer

Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, thanked Tarkan on social media. According to Sabah, he wrote that the call “Uyan” (“Wake up”) had touched people’s hearts years ago.

Kurum said the song reaching the world as “Wake Up” creates valuable awareness about the climate crisis before COP31 in Antalya. The ministry is a key government body for the conference, so his message shows official interest in the project.

COP31 is the 31st session of the UN climate conference. Üç argues that music can help people connect climate policy to their own lives. That is the columnist’s opinion, not a finding from the project.

Readers should wait for the official release to see how the English lyrics and the new arrangement differ from the 2008 original. Sabah has not yet published those details.

Source: Sabah (Hakan Üç, Günaydın column)
Featured image: Hakki.T (Hakki Topcu) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0