Prominent writer Ya?ar Kemal dead at 92

One of modern Turkey?s most celebrated literary figures, Ya?ar Kemal, who had been hospitalized since Jan. 14 following respiratory problems, lung infection and heart arrhythmia, died at a hospital in Istanbul on Feb. 28.

He will be laid to rest today with a ceremony in Istanbul.

Kemal, who wrote more than 20 novels and nearly 10 experimental works, besides short stories, is also famous for recreating Turkish as a literary language.

Having both Turkish and Kurdish origins, Kemal was born in 1923 as Kemal Sad?k Gökçeli in the southern province of Osmaniye in the Çukurova region, known in antiquity as Cilicia.

He lost his sight in one eye in an accident and at the age of five he witnessed the murder of his father Sadi at the hands of his adopted son, while praying in a mosque.

Kemal first worked as letter-writer for illiterate citizens in small villages, then became a journalist and finally a novelist, always believing in ?human beings and nature,? defining his art as ?being at the proletariat?s service.?

?I am against those who oppress and exploit the people; it does not matter whether oppression comes from feudalism or the bourgeoisie. Whoever is preventing the happiness of the public, I am against it with my art and with my whole life,? Kemal said in a 1971 interview.

?I do not want my art to diverge from the public like flesh and bone. I do not believe in an art which is separated from the public,? he added.

In 1950, Kemal was detained on charges of disseminating communist propaganda, the first of several arrests during his lifetime, but he was later acquitted.

Kemal moved to Istanbul where he worked as a reporter for the Cumhuriyet daily newspaper.

It was in Istanbul that...