Turkish filmmaker Arin Inan Arslan has compiled and produced a documentary film about nearly 30 old and forgotten lullabies sung by the women of various nations of Turkey in seven languages and the stories of the women singing those lullabies, writes Agos Armenian Weekly of Istanbul.

“Nowadays, mothers no longer sing lullabies for their children, and this is why the culture of singing lullabies is on the verge of extinction,” the filmmaker states.

To listen to the more than 30 Armenian, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Zaza, Laz and Georgian lullabies and the stories behind them, Arslan traveled to the Turkish provinces of Ardvin, Kars, Hata, Adana, Malatia, Dersim, Diyarbakir, Sebastia, Kharberd and Trabizon, as well as Hamshen.

Arslan, who has recorded the old lullabies on the verge of extinction, states that those lullabies are often reflections of the pain and emotions of the singer, the story of the singer’s family and major historic events.

“Lullabies often turned into a cry in particularly the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey. When we visited the Black Sea region, the Lazs told us the following: “There has never been a crying song for us. We learned them from eastern states (mainly Kurdish-populated states-tert.am),” says Arslan, reported Tert.am.