Özker Yaşın

Özker Yaşın (1932–2011) was a Turkish Cypriot poet, author and journalist. He is considered to be one of the leading Turkish Cypriot poets of the period starting from the 1950s, and his work often exhibited a nationalistic line of thought. He received his primary and secondary education in Istanbul, in the 18th Primary School and the Vefa High School. His first poem in a newspaper was published in 1946,

In 1950, he returned to Cyprus as a journalist. In 1952, his first poem in the renowned Turkish journal Varlık was published. Upon his return, he became a very prolific poet who brought "a different outlook" to Turkish Cypriot poetry. He published books called Bayraktar Destanı ("the Epic of the Flag Bearer"), Kıbrıs'tan Atatürk'e (From Cyprus to Atatürk), Namık Kemal Kıbrıs'ta ("Namık Kemal in Cyprus") and Atatürk'e Saygı Duruşu ("Standing in Silence for Atatürk"). In 1963, when the intercommunal violence called "Bloody Christmas" erupted, he joined the Turkish Cypriot armed struggle with Turkish Resistance Organization fighters He also wrote satire under the alias "Terzioğlu".

He was elected a member of the Turkish Cypriot Communal Assembly on 5 July 1970 from Nicosia and was one of the founding members of the Republican Turkish Party. He was a member of the Committee of Social Works of the Turkish Cypriot Administration. He was called "one of the most important poets in Turkish Cypriot literature in original pursuits", but his work exhibits influence from various Turkish authors, such as Orhan Veli Kanık, Nazım Hikmet, Cahit Külebi, Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan, Bedri Rahmi Eyuboğlu and "arguably" Behçet Kemal Çağlar.

Yaşın was part of the nationalist poetry movement at the time and wrote works depicting the intercommunal violence and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. However, he also reflected a change of focus from Turkey to Cyprus as the location of Turkish Cypriot identity. This can be seen in his words, "We Cypriots in the past were proud of our Turkishness and would say 'How happy is he who can call himself a Turk.' Now, however, we will feel pride both in being 'a Turk' and in being 'a Cypriot'. From now on we'll brag, 'How happy is he who can call himself a Turkish Cypriot'."

His nationalist line of thought combined his position as a Turkish Cypriot intellectual and the political environment of the 1960s and 70s. However, over time, his poetic approach turned to one that was increasingly imbued in "dispersion", according to Metin Turan.