Ministry Responds to Call to Turn Orhan Veli’s Birthplace into a Museum

A historic mansion in Istanbul’s Beykoz district, identified as the birthplace of poet Orhan Veli, has been offered for sale at 80 million lira. Residents want the three-story wooden building turned into a museum or library.

The house in Yalıköy hosted Orhan Veli and his family until the early 1930s and has retained much of its period architecture. The property is privately owned and registered as a Group 2 immovable cultural asset requiring protection.

The issue reached Turkey’s Grand National Assembly after New Party İzmir lawmaker Seda Kaya Ösen asked Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy whether the ministry could purchase the house and convert it into a museum. Ösen argued that preserving the poet’s birthplace would contribute to Turkey’s cultural and literary heritage.

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The purchase of the property in question does not fall within the duties and responsibilities of our ministry.

In her parliamentary question, Ösen noted that the ministry’s 2026 budget was approximately 70 billion lira, including an investment budget of 18.2 billion lira. She asked whether 80 million lira could be allocated for the property.

Ersoy said the ministry’s restoration work focused on museums, archaeological sites and registered cultural assets allocated to the ministry. He added that the house had no survey, restitution or restoration projects and that its sale did not require ministry approval under the relevant protection law. “The purchase of the property in question does not fall within the duties and responsibilities of our ministry,” he said.

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The Ministry of Culture and Tourism must assume responsibility for transforming Orhan Veli Kanık’s birthplace into a museum.