Koray Candemir

Turkish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He used to be the lead singer of the Turkish rock band Kargo. Towards the end of 2008, Koray Candemir and Serkan Celikoz decided to end their involvement with Kargo, due to vision and opinion differences with the other members of Kargo. They formed their new band which is named 'maSKott'. They are currently in Seattle working on their new projects and released their debut album in 2010. Besides singing, Koray also plays the guitar in Kargo and maSKott. In addition to his musical work, he is known for his acting and charity work. Candemir is a credited actor in 'His Secret Life' movie directed by renowned Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Özpetek. His role required him to learn Italian. In 2004, it was announced that he would play the lead character of Niko in "Yabanci Damat" (Foreign Groom) TV series. Later on Candemir dropped out of the TV series as his touring schedule with Kargo would not allow him to be committed to this project. Candemir has worked on behalf of UNICEF and United Nations Population Fund. In 2005 UNICEF partnered with the Turkish Ministry of National Education to launch "Haydi Kizlar Okula" campaign which aimed to increase the equality in the education system by helping girls between ages of 6-14 to attend school. During the campaign "Güral Porselen" began to sell specially designed mugs to raise funds for the campaign. Koray Candemir provided his support to the campaign with his photos appearing on the mugs to attract more sales. In April 2007 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched their "Staying Alive + Me (named Bir Genclik Hikayesi)" in Turkey with the help of their sponsors, MTV Turkey and Levi's. As this campaign targeted educating teens about safe sex practices, they opted to choose Koray Candemir as the celebrity spokesperson for the campaign. Candemir still actively participates to "Bir Genclik Hikayesi" by attending workshops visiting universities and recording TV spots to raise awareness.