Ankara Echoes

Ankara Echoes is a music collective from Ankara that brings Anatolian melodies together with rock and modern sounds. Founder and lead vocalist Mertkan Erkan writes the lyrics and composes the songs together with his bandmates. The repertoire pairs Erkan's original songs with new interpretations of anonymous folk melodies. "Beni Al", which spread quickly on social media in 2026, is the group's most-streamed song.

How the group started

Ankara Echoes began with a song called "Papi", written on Eşref Koçak's balcony. After that song the group went into the studio and grew over time. Ankara Echoes band members include Mertkan Erkan and Eşref Koçak, later additions Özgün Aksüyek, Özgür Aksüyek and Doğan Aşkıner, and İzel Susam on vocals and bağlama. The group currently works as a ten-piece, and the line-up can change from project to project. The band describes its music as "timeless echoes", which is where the "echoes" in its name comes from.

Ankara Echoes songs

"Beni Al" is the song that brought the group to a wide audience. Used in thousands of Instagram and TikTok videos in early 2026, it entered the Spotify Turkey charts. The Afro House remix "Beni Al (Ta Ki Seni Görene Kadar)", made with Kürşad Kahraman, reached No. 8 on Spotify Turkey's daily chart. Other well-known songs by the group include "Yok Yok", "Anason", "Bedenimi Al", "Plastik Kalpler" and "Eylül". "Onu Gördüğümden Beri" was featured in the Show TV series Rüya Gibi.

Concerts

Ankara Echoes played its first concerts on 22 and 23 January 2026 at Babylon in Istanbul. In January and February the group went on to perform in Ankara, Antalya, İzmir and Eskişehir. It played Zorlu PSM %100 Studio on 18 April 2026 as part of Garanti BBVA Genç Konserleri, and Next Stage Fest at ODTÜ Mezunları Derneği Vişnelik on 24 June 2026. On stage, bağlama and synth are played side by side in the same arrangements.

How the songs are made

The group's songs are studio recordings written and performed by its members. In a January 2026 interview with Hürriyet, Mertkan Erkan said the lyrics and music belong to the group and that AI is used only as a tool at the mixing and mastering stage. The production team includes six producers, five of them from Ankara.