Cengiz Doğu (1 August 1945 – 14 November 2019) was a Turkish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

against

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

who fled from

political persecution Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Life

Cengiz Doğu went to school in Izmir and studied

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

and literature from 1965 till 1974 in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. He was politically active since 1966, as he approached the

Workers' Party of Turkey Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...

ideologically and co-founded the "Student Association of Turkish Studies" in 1968. After the 1971 Turkish military memorandum, all student associations were banned, and Cengiz Doğu was jailed for 20 days. He completed his military service from 1975 to 1977, but his studies were cancelled in 1977. He worked as a newspaper proofreader and emigrated to Germany in 1978, but returned to Turkey after a few months. However, after the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by ...

, Doğu had to fear for his life and fled to Germany for good. From 1981 to 1988 he lived in the

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

camp in

Neuburg an der Donau Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. Divisions The municipality has 16 divisions: * Altmannstetten * Bergen, Neu ...

where he wrote the book of poems ''Das Lager gleicht nicht den Kerkern Anatolien''. Since his asylum application was rejected, he was expecting

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

to Turkey for years, although many

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

notable people and organizations supported his right to stay. In 1989 he married Lili Schlumberger, then spokesperson of the Bavarian Refugee Council, and moved to Dachau. In 1991, he was recognized as an asylum seeker and received German citizenship in 1997. Cengiz Doğu was active in Germany with readings, civic actions for

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

, speaking engagements against racism and discrimination, while earning his living as a storage worker. Together with

Osvaldo Bayer Osvaldo Bayer (18 February 1927 – 24 December 2018) was an Argentine writer and journalist. He lived in Buenos Aires. In 1974, during the presidency of Isabel Perón, he went into exile, residing in Linz am Rhein, Germany, throughout the Natio ...

and Urs M. Fiechtner he developed the documentary short film ''Asylum'' (1984). The film was shown at the International Festival of the Film Schools in Munich (Internationales Festival der Filmhochschulen München) and won a prize of the German Film Critics at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen (Internationale Kurzfilmtagen Oberhausen). In 1989 Doğu became a member of the "Verband deutscher Schriftsstellerinnen und Schriftsteller" and later was engaged in the Munich group of the "Werkkreis Literatur der Arbeitswelt", a writers' group in Germany that not only involved professional but also freelance writers. Doğu also participated in the events at the memorial site of the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. Cengiz Doğu died in Dachau after a long illness on 14 November 2019 and now rests at the Waldfriedhof.

Poetry

Doğu's lyrical poems, prose contributions and book publications in

and Turkish come from his experiences of imprisonment, flight, camp,

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

and exile. People flee "when the human hunters begin their chase ... when the voice of torture takes the place of laughter ... " Dogu wrote in a poem. His poem ''Why did you flee your country?'' has been reprinted several times. In 1988 Doğu published

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

collection of poems ''Das Lager gleicht nicht den Kerkern Anatolien.'' In seven years in the collection camp in

, he had created poems in which he sings the sad song of asylum, the longing for home and freedom for his country, but also powerful verses of love, life and death. He opposes the long nights in the camp to "the small, wretched cells of the Anatolian dungeons in which humanity bleeds." A forest near the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, that he got to know "for three and a half years," is also reflected in his further book of poems ''Neuburg Lieder.'' Just like the forest, Doğu feels confined to a location and "can not change his place."

Bibliography

Books

* ''Das Lager gleicht nicht den Kerkern Anatoliens. Benzemiyor Anadolu hapishanelerine Neuburg'un mülteci kampı.'' Gedichte zweisprachig, Deutsch und Türkisch, Übersetzung Herbert Kugler, Verlag Schanzer Journal, Ingolstadt 1988. Zweite korrigierte und erw. Aufl. übers. v. Cengiz Dogu, Herbert Kugler und Lili Schlumberger-Dogu, Frieling, Berlin 2008, * ''Neuburg-Lieder'', Edition Pergamon, Selbstverlag, Dachau 1998 * ''Der Mensch'', Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009, * ''Flüchtlinge: Die Straßenkinder der Menschheit.'' Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009,

Contributions

* Bericht aus Mamak. In: Anja Tuckermann (Hrsg.): In die Flucht geschlagen : Geschichten aus dem bundesdeutschen Asyl (= Sammlung Luchterhand. Nr. 0852). Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, , S. 144–150. * Warum sind Sie aus Ihrem Land geflüchtet. In: Anja Tuckermann (Hrsg.): In die Flucht geschlagen : Geschichten aus dem bundesdeutschen Asyl (= Sammlung Luchterhand. Nr. 0852). Band 0852. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, , S. 151–157.

Screenplay

* Asylum, Dokumentarfilm; Kurzfilm 1984; Regie:

Friedrich Klütsch Friedrich may refer to: Names * Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' * Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other * Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dogu, Cengiz 1945 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Turkish poets Turkish male poets Turkish refugees Turkish human rights activists Turkish emigrants to Germany German anti-racism activists Writers from İzmir