The “Turkish Cypriot Writers Bust Collection” of the Walled City Museum, which features Turkish Cypriot writers contributing to Turkish Cypriot literature, history and culture, continues to grow with new names. Osman Türkay, known as the “Space Ptakeoet”, whom we lost in 2001, and Özker Yaşın, a versatile writer whom we lost in 2011, have taken their places in the Walled City Museum with their bronze busts. The masters of Turkish Cypriot poetry, whose death anniversaries are commemorated in January and February, will live in the Walled City Museum along with Kaytazzade Mehmet Nazım, the first novelist of the Turkish Cypriot Literature, and Hikmet Afif Mapolar, the father of the Turkish Cypriot modern novel, whose bronze busts were previously added to the collection.

Nobel-Nominated Space Poet
Known as the Space Poet, Osman Türkay is known as one of the most original names not only of Turkish Cypriot literature, but also of world literature. The Ozanköy-born Cypriot poet, who was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize for Literature, addresses the macro and microcosmos in his works and calls people to peace and harmony in order to preserve the balance of the universe.

The poet, who thinks that chaos awaits the modern world as the subject of mythologies, sees people’s loss of their spiritual values by alienating and fighting with each other as the harbinger of this chaos. The works of the poet, who stated that he wrote to oppose the chaos in nature and the human soul, were impressed from the Turkish mythology, modern universe science and the understanding of tolerance, love and respect for people of Turkish Sufis such as Yunus Emre and Mevlana.

Osman Türkay, the only Turkish Cypriot poet candidate nominated to Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988 and 1990, also wrote articles in several newspapers in Turkey and in the UK. In addition to his poetry books, Türkay also has many works in essays, literary criticism and play.

The master poet of the island is in the Walled City…
Özker Yaşın is another name that is announced to take his place in the Walled City Museum with his bronze bust. In addition to his poet identity, Yaşın, who has produced many works as a novelist and journalist, is also a member of the TRNC Founding Council. Özker Yaşın, a versatile writer and person, was born in 1932 in Nicosia. Yaşın, who spent his early youth time in Istanbul, returned to Cyprus in 1950 and started working as a journalist and radio-television programmer. Later, he founded a bookstore, then a printing house, and published the ‘Savaş-War’ newspaper. He participated in the foundation of the Republican Turkish Party. He served as a deputy during the 1970-1976 period. His name was popular in almost all newspapers and magazines in Cyprus and in Turkey, in particular in the “Varlık” magazine. He became the leading poet of “Free Poetry” and “Nationalist Poetry”. He brought a real innovation to Turkish Cypriot Poetry with his proficiency in Turkish, poetic aesthetics, resources, theme and style. For a long time, he was known and regarded as the “master poet” of the island. Özker Yaşın, who created an epic atmosphere in his poems, made a great contribution to the Turkish Cypriot Literature with his plays and novels. He settled in Istanbul in 1986. He lived there until he died. Özker Yaşın was not only a well-known poet but also a master writer who wrote works in many fields of Turkish Cypriot Literature. In this context, he is one of the writers who produced the most works in the genre of novels and gained a novelist character. The master writer of the Turkish Cypriot literature passed away on February 6, 2011, in Istanbul. The body of the Yaşın was brought to Cyprus and buried with a state ceremony.