The funeral ceremony, held after the noon prayer, was attended by condolences from the son of the master presenter, Mehmet Yolaç, and his daughter Göksu Yolaç. Many people from the art world and Yolaç’s fans, as well as Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, İzzet Yıldızhan, Gülben Ergen, Mehmet Ali Erbil, and Ragıp Savaş, attended the ceremony.
Governor Gül, in a statement to the press, stated that Yolaç was a valuable figure and said, “May God treat him with mercy. May his place be heaven.” Erkan Yolaç’s son, Mehmet Yolaç, stated that his father was one of the last masters of Turkish television history and expressed pride on behalf of his father for the attention given. He expressed sadness for the loss of a master who gave and received love and put a lot of effort into his work. He wished for his father’s path to be filled with light and for the most beautiful days and nights to be with him.
After the funeral prayer, Yolaç’s body was carried on shoulders and taken to the funeral vehicle. His body was then buried in the family cemetery in Zekeriyaköy.
Erkan Yolaç, who is he?
Presenter Erkan Yolaç, who left a mark in memories with TRT’s unforgettable competition “Evet-Hayır”, was born in 1935 in Kırklareli as the son of Hikmet Hanım and Mehmet Bey, who immigrated from Sofia to Turkey.
Yolaç moved to Istanbul with his family when he was six years old. He attended Saint-Joseph French High School and Kenan Evren Anatolian High School for his secondary education. Due to his father’s job, Yolaç’s family moved to Karabük in 1951, and he continued his education as a boarding student at Kastamonu High School.
Directed by his literature teacher Rauf Mutluay, Yolaç had his first hosting experience by making announcements from the municipality’s loudspeakers while he was still a student. He graduated from Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts as an interior architect in 1959.
Erkan Yolaç became known with the TRT program “Evet-Hayır”
The master presenter made his debut in the media by hosting a special holiday entertainment program on Ankara Radio in 1960. He brought the BBC’s “Evet-Hayır” competition to Turkey for the first time in 1962 at Caddebostan Gazinosu.
Yolaç, who was known for the TRT program “Evet-Hayır”, where he asked contestants questions for two minutes without allowing them to use the words “yes” or “no”, moved his show to TRT in 1985 due to its high popularity. He became known nationwide with the “Evet-Hayır” competition he hosted as part of the Studio Sunday program on TRT while also hosting an entertainment program called “Erkan Yolaç Show” on TGRT television from 1996 onwards.
In 2018, he went to the USA for the birth of his grandchild and was hospitalized with pneumonia. The famous presenter had been battling health problems for a long time.
