Nazım Hikmet Honored in Izmir on 63rd Anniversary of Death

The 63rd anniversary of the death of celebrated Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet was commemorated with a ceremony at his statue in Kültürpark, Izmir. The event, jointly organized by the Konak Municipality, the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, and the Izmir '68ers Platform, drew a crowd of Hikmet's admirers, including prominent figures from the arts, politics, and civil society.

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It is a great honor for us to be born in the same country as one of the most beautiful poets of the Turkish language, to be part of the air he breathed.

Attendees included Konak Mayor Nilüfer Çınarlı Mutlu, representatives from the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, the Izmir '68ers Platform, the National Library Foundation, the Turkish Writers' Syndicate, PEN, and various other cultural and artistic organizations. Performers like mime artist İlker Kılıçer and readers Özgür Zeybek, Ayşen Deniz Onaran, Neslihan Perşembe Kulakoğlu, and Hasan Kulakoğlu paid tribute through recitations of Hikmet's poetry.

Mayor Mutlu, speaking at the event, shared her personal connection to Hikmet's work and highlighted the importance of his ideals. "In these difficult times, we must cling to Nazım Hikmet's love for his homeland, his resilience, and his belief in better days," Mutlu stated. She stressed that the current moment calls for resistance and a commitment to democracy and justice, echoing Hikmet's famous line, "There is no salvation alone; either we are all together or none of us are."

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In these difficult times, we must cling to Nazım Hikmet's love for his homeland, his resilience, and his belief in better days. Today is a day of resistance. Today is a day to stand up for democracy and justice. There is no salvation alone; either we are all together or none of us are.

Ertuğrul Gezenoğlu, President of the Izmir '68ers Platform, also delivered a moving speech, characterizing Hikmet as an anti-imperialist poet dedicated to his country's full independence, selfless love for his people, and a desire for fair distribution. Gezenoğlu praised Hikmet's unwavering adherence to his principles, his courage in identifying as a "communist lover" in his time, and his pride in proclaiming "I am the Turkish Poet Nazım Hikmet" wherever he went. Hikmet's role in preserving the Turkish language in Turkic republics, his love for nature, and his enduring spirit as a fighter were also cited as key aspects of his legacy.

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As an anti-imperialist poet, his full independence for his country, his selfless love for his people, his demand for fair distribution, his standing firm against injustice, his adherence to his principles until the end, his courageous heart to say 'your lover is a communist' in those years, his pride in saying 'I am the Turkish Poet Nazım Hikmet' wherever he went, his keeping Turkish alive in the Turkic republics, his love for animals and nature, his never detaching from life as a man of struggle and fight, his being a great man of love are the most important virtues of being commemorated en masse.