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Listen to the folk songs and dances of Muş – and to the songs of the unique birds that make their home on the majestic Muş Plain!

Muş Folk Songs

The rhythms of Muş and its environs feature many typical characteristics of Eastern Anatolian Region folk music. These folk songs express the loves and lives of the local people, their ties to nature, their suffering during the years of invasion, and their love for the homeland.

Demoiselle Crane

The demoiselle crane (telli turna) is a member of the family Gruidae. Known for its distinctive melodic song, the bird has a wingspan ranging from 155 to 180 centimetres and is between 85 to 100 centimetres long. It is smaller than a common crane but its plumage is similar. Demoiselle cranes are migratory birds, spending the winters in Africa and South Asia and flying to Türkiye in March-April. While demoiselle cranes are usually found on dry grasslands during the winter, they prefer marsh areas as a habitat during their breeding season, as well as swamps, steppes and meadows. Breeding in four different wetlands in Eastern Anatolia, the last stop in Türkiye for the demoiselle cranes is considered to be the islands on the Murat River, in the Bulanık Plain of Muş. It was determined that last 11 demoiselle cranes, which also have breeding sites in Europe, set up a breeding colony in the Bulanik Plain. String cranes have their own unique melody.

Bustard

The bustard (toy kuşu), from the family Otididae, is considered quite timid among bird species, although they like to sing. As Türkiye's largest bird species, the bustard is also one of the world's largest flying birds. However, the bustard today faces extinction. Of the 500 bustards living in Türkiye, 295 are on the Muş Plain. If you are lucky, you may have a chance to hear the songs of these unique birds.

Folk Dances

As an integral element of national culture, folk dancing provides an important structure that bridges the inner world, life and traditions of local people from the past to the present, and from the present to the future. The folk dances of the Muş region weave a rich tapestry. The folk games, grouped as Halay and Bar, are played in the form of games held in a clamp, games held with little fingers (swordsman), applause, and wrapped-on-the-waist games.