Ritual and music in Gaziantep Çepnis

It is known that most of the peoples migrated for different reasons in the history of the world. As a matter of fact, these migrations are made for reasons such as political, natural disasters, economy, war, exile. There are also cases of forced migration in some state policies. In such cases, people had to leave their birthplace, their homeland. Çepni also came to Anatolia with migration and dispersed to various parts of the country. It can be said that the Çepni were quite influential in the Turkification of Anatolia. However, we do not have precise information about where they came from, how they spread and where they settled. The existence of Çepni is mentioned in written sources in the XIIth and XIIIth centuries. In this context, information on the culture and social life of the Çepni can be reached since the XIIth century. Çepni music consists of works blended with the Alevi Bektashi culture. Their musical structures are based on the tradition of minstrelsy, consisting of sayings, semahs and long airs. The minstrels (folk minstrels) living in the region have produced both folk songs that appeal to belief as well as folk songs that deal with social life such as love, nature, human love, and financial difficulties. Accordingly, the minstrels living in the Yavuzeli district of Gaziantep not only performed the duty of dede, but also assumed the duty of folk poets. Keywords: Chepni, Chepni music, Alevi Bektashi culture, belief, Musical structure.