Google marks Turkish poet’s 104th birthday

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA (AA) - Google on Friday marked the 104th birthday of one of Turkey’s most prominent early 20th-century poets.

The search engine’s home page featured an animation of Orhan Veli Kanik watching the Galata Tower in Istanbul's Eminonu district.

Kanik was born in Istanbul on April 15, 1914.

He enrolled in a philosophy program at Istanbul University but dropped out to work as a civil servant and translator.

He used the pen name Mehmet Ali Sel to write poems for six literary magazines.

Kanik is one of the founders of a movement called Garip, meaning ‘strange’, and had a huge influence especially between the years 1945-1950 on Republican era Turkish verse.

His Garip movement is considered a milestone in Turkish poetry as he cast off traditional craft in favor of more simple verses.

Kanik died of a brain aneurysm on Nov. 14, 1950 after falling down a manhole in Ankara.