He was the only child of Irma Felekyan (Toto Karaca) of Armenian origin and Mehmet Ibrahim Karaca of Azeri origin. His first group was called Dynamites and was a classic rock cover band. Later he joined Jaguars, an Elvis Presley cover band. In 1967, he started to write his own music, forming the band Apaslar (Apachees), his first Turkish-language group. In 1969, Karaca and bass-player Serhan Karabay left Apaslar and started an original Anatolian group called Kardaslar (Brothers). In 1972, Karaca joined the group Mogollar (Mongols) and wrote one of his best-known songs, "Namus Belasi". However, Cahit Berkay, the leader of Mogollar, wanted an international name for his band, and he left for France to take the group to another level. Karaca, who wanted to continue his Anatolian beat sound, left Mogollar and started his own band Dervisan (Dervishes) in 1974. Karaca and Dervisan sang poetic and progressive songs. In the 1970s, Turkey's image was damaged by political violence between supporters of the left and the right, separatist movements and the rise of Islamism. As the country fell into chaos, the government suspected Cem Karaca of involvement. At times he was accused of treason for being a separatist thinker and a Marxist-Leninist. The Turkish government tried to portray Karaca as a man who was unknowingly writing songs to start a revolution. One politician was quoted as saying, "Karaca is simply calling citizens to a bloody war against the state." Dervisan was ultimately dissolved at the end of 1977. He later founded Edirdahan (an acronym for "from Edirne to Ardahan"; the westernmost and the easternmost provinces of Turkey) in 1978. He recorded one LP with Edirdahan. In early 1979, he left for West Germany for business reasons. Turkey continued to spin out of control with military curfews and eventually a military coup on September 12, 1980. General Kenan Evren took over the government and temporarily closed all the nation's political parties. After the coup, many people, including writers, artists and journalists, were arrested. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Karaca by the government of Turkey. The state invited Karaca back to the country several times, but Karaca, not knowing what would happen upon his return, decided not to come back. While he was in Germany, his father died, but he could not return to attend the funeral. After some time, the Turkish government decided to strip Cem Karaca of his Turkish citizenship, keeping the arrest warrant active. Several years later, in 1987, the prime minister and leader of the Turkish Motherland Party, Turgut Ozal, issued an amnesty for Karaca. Shortly afterwards, he returned to Turkey. His return also brought a new album by him, Merhaba Gencler ve Her zaman Genc Kalanlar, one of his most powerful works. His return home was greeted happily by his fans, but during his absence, Karaca had lost the youthful audience and acquired few new listeners. He died on February 8, 2004.
