Metin Şentürk | |
Birth Date: | 16 May 1966 |
Birth Place: | Topkapı, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey |
Origin: | Albanian |
Instrument: | oud, baglama |
Years Active: | 1987–present |
Metin Şentürk (born May 16, 1966) is a Turkish artist.[1]
Şentürk was born in Topkapı into an origin for Şanlıurfa in Kosovo-Albanian family.[2] He lost his eyesight in an accident at the age of three. For primary education, he attended a school for the blind over eight years. His further education in high school and university took place however at traditional institutions. Metin Şentürk studied music and graduated from the State Conservatory at Istanbul Technical University.[3] Şentürk is also the host of a television program on music and disability. He also founded the Istanbul-based World Disability Foundation and World Disability Union which has 200 members from six continents and 75 countries. In May 2006, he married Fulya Kalkavan, a member of a wealthy shipowner family. His wife filed for divorce in 2012 after she was diagnosed for thyroid cancer.[4] [5] Şentürk became the world's fastest unaccompanied blind driver on April 2, 2010.[6] He drove a Ferrari F430 at the GAP Airport in Şanlıurfa, and was assisted by rally driver Volkan Işık on radio. His officially recorded top speed was 303.62km/h and average speed 292.89km/h. The former record was set by British visually impaired Mike Newman at 284km/h.[4]