Manisa Tarzanı

Tarzan of Manisa (Turkish: Manisa Tarzanı) is a pseudonym of Ahmet bin Carlak (1899, Samarra, Ottoman Empire – 31 May 1963, Manisa, Turkey), a Turkish environmentalist who lived on Mount Sipylus near Manisa, in western Turkey, for 40 years. He is considered the first environmentalist in Turkey, Depending on the sources, his hometown is reported as Baghdad or Samarra. Then Carlak fought in Antep and Kilis, Carlak learned to write the new Turkish alphabet in Latin characters at one of the Halk Mektepleri ("school of the people", a primary school for adults established by Atatürk), and started to take part in public life. In exchange, Carlak brought a jar of water from the mountain to the restaurant. In 1959, he was a guest in Konya and Niğde with members of the Manisa Alpine Club. His presence attracted tens of thousands of spectators. In Konya, he was initially denied entry to the Mevlana Museum because of his naked torso.

Death Carlak died on May 31, 1963, at the Manisa State Hospital of heart failure. On 1 June 1963, Hürriyet reported on his death with the article "The Tarzan of Manisa is dead". Carlak was buried in the new cemetery ("Asrî Mezarlık") of Manisa, despite his last wish, that he be buried at Topkale.

In the Fatih Parkı of Manisa, a life-size monument representing Carlak has been erected, known as Tarzan Heykeli. Each year, the authorities of Manisa commemorate him on the anniversary of his death, honoring him as a precursor of Turkish environmentalism. In sports, fans of Manisaspor call themselves Tarzanlar ("Tarzans") and, in 2015, a local cross-country skiing event was named Manisa Tarzanı.

Carlak's life has been the subject of several books, and of a 1994 film shot by director Orhan Oğuz entitled Manisa Tarzanı. The film is considered the first Turkish film with an ecological subject, and was submitted by Turkey for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,