In his remarks at the "Kemal Tahir Symposium on the 52nd anniversary of his death," Presidency's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun said that Kemal Tahir's ideas, writings, and novels have served to illuminate the effort to understand Türkiye's place in history.
Head of Communications Altun, speaking at the symposium held at Dr Mete Cengiz Cultural Centre in collaboration with Bursa Uludağ University (BUU) and İstanbul University (IU) Sociology Research Centre, noted that Tahir left an influential mark in the world of ideas and literature, sometimes with his analyses and sometimes with his enquiries: "He consistently wrote as though he had a social duty or was repaying a debt. He expressed this sentiment strongly by stating, 'I am the writer of the Anatolian people'."
Highlighting the fact that Kemal Tahir was a writer who reflected on and questioned himself, recognised his mistakes and did not hold back from expressing them, Head of Communications Altun recalled that in 2021, Tahir was awarded the "Loyalty" award at the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards.
Pointing out that Kemal Tahir confronted Türkiye's Westernisation history, Head of Communications Altun said:
''The actors who marginalise Ottoman history have also created a historical experience in which splits, crashes, contradictions, pains, traumas, and dilemmas have been intensely felt in the political, social, and cultural spheres over the last 150 years. Kemal Tahir also dared to confront this historical experience. Kemal Tahir once again delivered a performance of courageous confrontation in the field of society, sociopolitical, and sociocultural realities. Despite the fact that it was his own community, he was successful in confronting them. He challenged the rote dogmas of leftist ideology, which he thought he had stood for his entire life.''
Head of Communications Altun stated that Kemal Tahir could not escape the monopolistic community pressure of leftist circles throughout his life and said, ''He addressed power relations, Türkiye's position, the East-West conflict, the role of the state, and the issue of intellectuals, raising novel questions. He examined the development of societies based on their state-building capabilities. He opposed the underdevelopment paradigm of the period, considering it a means of legitimising the West's order of exploitation and plunder.''
"We continue to witness the snobbish behaviour of Westernist cultural agents"
Emphasising that Kemal Tahir objected to ready-made explanations and deceptions, Head of Communications Altun said, "This attitude was nourished by his nativist thinking. It is an idea centred on Türkiye's historical experience and on the vision of a strong and self-reliant Türkiye. He addressed the matter of Türkiye's destiny in his review of history.''
Head of Communications Altun stated that Türkiye is striving to exist as a global, stabilising, and influential power by exerting every effort possible today and noted:
''Throughout their lives, both Türkiye and Kemal Tahir suffered greatly from Westernism, as well as at the hands of institutions and actors that served as cultural agents of the West. This country and its true intellectuals are exhausted by the attitudes of imposing, patronising, self-important, and incompetent individuals. Today, unfortunately, we continue to witness the snobbish behaviour of Westernist cultural agents, even though they can no longer maintain the comfortable reign they once held. We are talking about a group of people who stigmatise those who are not one of their own, who cannot even tolerate impartiality, and who persistently and stubbornly strive to keep an amorphous lynch culture alive. And unfortunately, the opposition in Türkiye is laying the ground for this. However, in Türkiye, the era when rhetoric based on cheap stereotypes and prejudices, far removed from reality, could have an influence under community pressure, is over. We attach importance to Kemal Tahir's works for the insight they offer into the past, present, and future, their masterful expression of our cultural values, and their resistance to attempts at hegemony. For these reasons, Tahir's works continue to produce value for us today and should continue to do so."
Head of Communications Altun added that there is an opportunity to carry Kemal Tahir's works forward from where he left off and that he viewed the symposium in this context.
After the speech, BUU Rector Prof. Ferudun Yılmaz presented a gift to Head of Communications Altun.
The symposium was attended by Erol Ayyıldız, Governor of Bursa; Prof. İsmail Coşkun, Head of the Department of Sociology at IU Faculty of Letters; author Murat Menteş; MPs; as well as academics and students.
In a message posted in his social media account, Head of Communications Altun also conveyed his thanks to Prof. Feridun Yılmaz, Rector of Uludağ University, Prof. İsmail Coşkun, Head of the Department of Sociology at İstanbul University, and all for their contribution.
