books

Turkey’s literary giant Yasar Kemal dead age 92

March 01, 2015

This 2011 file picture shows Turkish author Yasar Kemal talking with the media during a demonstration to support Turkish sociologist Pinar Selek at the entrance of a courthouse in Istanbul. Yasar Kemal, 92, died yesterday in Istanbul. – AFP pic, March 1, 2015.Yasar Kemal, one of Turkey's most prominent writers and a nominee for the Nobel Literature award, has died aged 92, state media said yesterday.

Kemal died in an Istanbul hospital where he was being treated for pulmonary complications and cardiac arrhythmia since January 14, the official Anatolia news agency said.

His doctor told Turkish media that Kemal's health had rapidly deteriorated in the past week and that he died after complications including multiple organ failure.

Kamal burst onto the world literary scene with his very first novel in 1955, "Mehmed the Hawk", which was translated into some 40 languages, earning him rapid international fame.

Born in 1923 of Kurdish descent in Osmaniye in southern Turkey, he won numerous literary and human rights awards, including France's highest honour the Legion d'Honneur and was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize, an award many Turks believe he should have won.

Kemal, of Kurdish descent, faced several trials in Turkey over his writings and his political activism, particularly his denunciation of brutal government crackdowns against the Kurds. He served time in prison.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had offered his condolences to Kemal's family and that he was "deeply saddened" to hear of the death of the author.

"The sadness in our hearts is immense. Both Turkey and humanity have lost a great soul," Culture Minister Omer Celik wrote on Twitter. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 1, 2015.