Near East University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yeniasır gave an interview titled “The Reflections of the Turkish Cypriot National Struggle on the Island Literature” at the 25th International Book Fair organized by the Bartın Municipality this year. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yeniasır was also among the jury members of the “Hasan Bayri Poetry Contest”, traditionally organized every year by the Municipality of Bartın.

At the end of the event, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yeniasır was presented with a plaque of participation and a commemorative gift by the Bartın Municipality.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yeniasır: “Language and literature are a faithful mirror of social structure and culture.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. emphasizing that literature is one of the cultural elements that make up the social structure, Mustafa Yeniasır said, “Literature and language are both influenced by society and give direction to society. Since social and cultural values are transferred to future generations through literature, literary work also makes a great contribution to the formation of national identity.”

Stating that language and literature are a faithful mirror of social structure and culture, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yeniasır said, “A poet can convey his feelings and thoughts to the members of his own society only through his language, that is, through the works he writes. In the past centuries, the worldview of Anatolia was exhibited in Yunus’s hymns, the Turkish people’s patriotism was symbolized on the flag, in Akif’s National Anthem, and the lives and behaviors of Anatolian people were exhibited and eternalized in the novels and stories of Yakup Kadri and Halide Edip.”

Turkish Cypriot literature turned to a socialist line in the 1930s.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yeniasır said, “This feature is also determinant for Turkish Cypriot literature as a characteristic feature.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yeniasır said, “We can say that the literature that developed in Cyprus, especially after the 1930s, has tended towards a socialist line. From these years, national poetry started to develop in Cyprus and names such as Özker Yaşın, Urkiye Mine Balman, Oktay Öksüzoğlu, Süleyman Uluçamgil tried to keep the national consciousness alive with their works. During this period, the themes of longing for the motherland and what happened during the process of the national struggle are very often reflected in their poems.”