AZAK, Gürbüz

Journalist and writer (b 5 July 1938, Acıpayam / Denizli). He has used the pen names Nedim Gürbüz, Oğuz Akalan and Aliş. He attended Cumhuriyet Primary School and Denizli High School. He completed his education at the State Fine Arts Academy. He began his career as an artist and graphic artist on the newspaper Hür Vatan in 1961. He worked for the newspapers Yeni İstanbul (1962-65) and Babıalide Sabah (1965-69). Opening a workshop, he worked as a freelance painter (1969-74 and 1980-84). He worked as director of publication at the newspaper Yeni Asya (1974-77) and as editor-in-chief of the newspaper Tercüman (1977-80). He worked as columnist between 1984 and 2001 on the newspaper Türkiye. He is a member of the Turkish Journalists Association, the Guild of Intellectuals, and the Press Council.

His articles, drawings and poems were published in journals Nasır (1957-59), Şiir (1961), Saygı Edebiyat (1966), Türk Edebiyatı (1966-67), Boğaziçi-Köprü (1982-84) and Doğuş (1985-88, with the pen name Oğuz Akalan). He was chosen as the painter of the year by journal İnanç in 1984 and the journalist of the year by the Türkiye Journalists Association in 1994. He received the Mevlâna Great Award of the Konya Kombassan Foundation in 1998. He has received four press awards. His humorous book Deli Balta was adapted and televised by the Türkiye Newspaper Radio and Television Corporation as a nine-part series (1990-91). He was sentenced to five years in prison by the Major Punishment Law Court because of the picture he drew on the cover of the journal Büyük Doğu in 1968 but the case became invalid when Protection Law was abolished. A lawsuit was brought against him claiming that he insulted the government in September in 2000.

WORKS:

ESSAY: Dostlara Mektup (Letter to Friends, 1977, with the pen name Nedim Gürbüz), Atlar Hazır mı? (Are the Horses Ready?, 1990), Sizi Biri Arıyor (Someone is Calling You, 1985), Dünyayı Ölüler Yönetir (Death Governs the World, 1997).

RESEARCH-REVIEW: Anadolu Cayır Cayır (Anatolia is Burning, Rebellions in the Ottoman Empire, with the pen name Nedim Gürbüz, 1978), Üçbin Türk Motifi (Three Thousand Turkish Motifs, Our Motifs from the Middle East to Europe, 1983).

HUMOR: Reis Ne Almış (What Did the Skipper Buy?, humorous stories, with the pennme N. Gürbüz, 1978), Kaybolan Kuyruk (The Lost Tail, 1997).

MEMOIR: Güzel İnsanlar (Good People, 1987), Meşhurları İlk Görüşüm (The First Time I Saw Famous People, 1997), Gazeteci Milleti (Journalists, 1997).

NOVEL: Kırksekiz Kırkdokuz Elli (Forty Eight, Forty Nine, Fifty, 1997).

BIOGRAPHY: Ben Adnan Menderes (I am Adnan Menderes, 1997).

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: Nasreddin Hoca Serisi (Series of Nasreddin Hoca, with pictures, 1983).