Legendary Turkish actor Tarık Akan died on Friday morning at the age of 66 at a private hospital in Istanbul where he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer.
Akan’s death was announced by the Nazım Hikmet Culture and Arts Foundation in a statement on Friday.
Akar first appeared on the stage of Turkish cinema when he won an acting competition sponsored by the Ses magazine in 1970. He was born Tahsin Tarık Üregil, but he used the stage name Tarık Akan during his career as an actor. He had roles in a total of 111 movies.
Leftist-oriented actor Akan was jailed for two-and-a-half months following the military coup of 1980.
Akan was among the candidates for best actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for his role in “Yol” (The Road). He won the Silver Mansion Award for his role in “Pansion” at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1985.