Chopy Fatah

Chopy Fatah
Chopy Fatah
Born	Chopy Shakir Fatah; June 10, 1983 (age 41); Kirkuk, Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi Kurdish
Occupations	Singer-songwriter; TV host;
Spouse	Chato Fado (m. 2017)
	Musical career
Genres	Kurdish music, World, Folk
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2000–present
Website	http://www.chopy.krd/

Chopy Shakir Fatah (Sorani Kurdish: چۆپی شاکر فەتاح) ^[2] (/tʃoʊpi/; born June 10, 1983)^[3] is a contemporary Kurdish singer. She was born in Kirkuk, Iraq.

Career

Her family emigrated to the Netherlands in 1988. She released her first album titled Çît Naw Binêm in 2003. After emigrating to the Netherlands, she joined a Dutch choir school in 1990 and also attended a music school in 1996 where she focused on singing under the supervision of her teachers. In 1999, she attended the Kurdish Music Academy in Germany where she studied under the supervision of the Kurdish music teacher Wirya Ahmad. She performed on stage for the first time in The Hague, Netherlands in 2000. Chopy has released a total of 5 Kurdish music albums and 3 English singles "Draw the Line", "My Homeland" and "Think of Me".

Chopy has been interviewed by many Kurdish and Iraqi newspapers and magazines, as well as by newspapers from Turkey (Habertürk), Dutch newspapers Algemeen Dagblad, NRC Next, Trouw, Nederlands Dagblad and the Italian weekly women's fashion and celebrity gossip magazine Grazia. The Dutch current affairs TV programmes EénVandaag and Goudmijn made reports about Chopy's life. She has also performed in Jörgen Raymanns TV show 'Zo Raymann' (Raymanns Suikerfeest).

In 2008 Chopy became the cultural Ambassador of Asiacell Telecom Company. This is one of the most important Iraqi telecommunications company that caters to more than 9 million subscribers around Iraq. The result of this was that thousands of Chopy's (Asia Cell) billboards were placed around Iraq.

Chopy has performed in Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Greece, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates. In the Kurdish populated areas of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan, she is one of the most famous singers (according to Turkish newspaper Habertürk ). Thousands of her CDs have been sold around the world. Uniquely of Chopy is the fact that she is known in different parts of Kurdistan because she sings in Kurdish-Sorani (native) and Kurdish-Kurmanci (according to the Dutch newspaper NRC Next). Thus she gave concerts throughout Kurdistan: in Diyarbakir (Amed), Batman, Arbil (Erbil/Hawler), Qamishlo, Sulaimaniyah and Van.

Chopy was one of the first singers to perform in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk after the fall off Saddam's dictatorship. Chopy stated that she did so because of her love for her hometown and her many fans (according to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad). Many of Chopy Fatah's concerts and music events have been attended by important Iraqi and Kurdish politicians like the President of the Republic of Iraq, Jalal Talabani and the president of the Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani.

Chopy supported in 2009 the Democratic Society Party DTP (the current BDP Peace and Democracy Party) by sending an official letter to its leader Ahmet Türk where she explained that she will do everything in her power to support the peaceful solution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey (North-Kurdistan). “As a Kurdish artist I want to show my support to the solution of the Kurdish question in North-Kurdistan (Southeast Turkey).” Chopy said she is willing to give free concerts in Diyarbakır (Amed), Cizîr, Batman and other cities to support peace. Chopy was one of the Kurdish singers that held concerts in Iraqi Kurdistan to raise money for the Kurdish victims of the Van earthquake that struck the city in southeastern Turkey in October 2011 (2011 Van earthquake). On 21 March 2013 she held a performance in the Turkish Kurdistani city of Diyarbakır (Amed) in front of 2 million people to support peace and freedom for the Kurds in Turkey.

In October 2013 Chopy was chosen to be the Kurdish flag bearer for the One Young World Summit' in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Kurdish flag was for the first time hoisted at the event, alongside flags of 190 other countries attending the summit.