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Nesin Aziz 1915 - 1995 (80)

You came back after a long time
I now love longing for you more than I love you


QUOTES

Be Silent

This museum, It is beautiful only when I go there with you.
When there is no one else in the hall,
Kissing you is the most beautiful thing.
This raki, It is beautiful only when I'm drinking it with you.
Whoever is around,
The most beautiful thing is to kiss your mouth with raki.
This world, you see,
It is beautiful only if I'm living with you
And you,
You are beautiful only if you are with me


Aziz Nesin (1915-1995) was a Turkish poet, writer, satirical writer and political activist. His real name was Mehmet Nusret Nesin and was born in Halki, Istanbul on 20 December 1915. He was orphaned at a very young age and went on military Academy and military School of Physics. He also studied for two years at the Fine Arts School. He served as an officer for several years, but in 1945 he was fired. Since then he turned to literature and journalism. He published his first poems and short stories in Milliyet magazine while was working as a columnist for various newspapers. In 1946 he published the satirical newspaper Marcopasa. His satire provoked strong reactions, the circulation of the newspaper was banned and he was exiled to Bursa for a year (1947). Nesin continued his newspaper by changing various names.

His progressive ideas and his satirical comments on the political and social life in Turkey often led him to conflict with the regime. He had problems with justice and spent a total of 5.5 years in prison: In 1948, for articles and reviews he wrote for the Turkish political situation, in 1949 after the prosecution against him for defaming the Queen of England, the Shah Iran and the king of Egypt, in 1951, after the release of two other journals. For making a living he opened in 1952 in Istanbul a bookstore and the following year a photo studio. After that he returned to journalism and in 1956 he founded a publishing house that was burned down a few years later by strangers.

Aziz Nesin wrote many short stories, poems, novels and nine theatrical plays, issued a total of more than a hundred projects. He has repeatedly won awards in Turkey and abroad and his works have been translated into 32 languages. During his last years of his life he fought religious fanaticism and became the target of the Islamists. On July 2, 1993, while attending a cultural event in the city of Sivas, a mob of fanatical Muslims besieged the hotel and put fire. Aziz Nesin survived, but 37 people lost their lives. He died two years later, on July 5, 1995, of a heart attack during, in Cesme.