Ahmed Arif was a Turkish-Kurdish poet.
His father, Arif Hikmet, is an ethnic Turkmen from Kirkuk, and his mother Sayre is Kurdish. Ahmed Arif studied philosophy at Ankara University. Arif was arrested on political grounds in 1950 and spent time in prison until 1952. Published in various literary journals, his poems were widely read due to their original lyricism and imagery influenced by Anatolian folk cultures. He published only one collection of poetry: Hasretinden Prangalar Eskittim - a volume that has gone through a record number of printings.
He was among the contributors of the literary magazine Papirüs which was edited by Cemal Süreya.