Neşe Yaşın (born February 12, 1959), is a
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...
poet and author.
Early life
Neşe Yaşın was born in
Nicosia
Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities.
Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...
to Turkish-Cypriot parents. Her father is the accomplished poet and author Özker Yaşın and she is the sister of the award-winning poet
Mehmet Yaşın. After graduating from
Türk Maarif Koleji
Türk Maarif Koleji (), commonly referred to as Kolej, is a selective secondary education institute in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus. Access to the school is only open to students with top score in a nationwide entrance exam. It is an English-medium sch ...
, Yaşın completed her undergraduate education at
Middle East Technical University
Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...
where she studied
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
. She then graduated from the
University of Cyprus
The University of Cyprus (Greek language, Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Turkish language, Turkish: Kıbrıs Üniversitesi) is a public university, public research institute, research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It ...
.
Career
She has been an active
peace activist
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...
from a very young age and member of the
Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group, which in 1995 proposed 15 projects to promote peace and reconciliation on the island and presented in the
Cyprus Peace Bazaar. Yaşın mainly writes in Turkish although a considerable number of her works of prose have been translated into Greek and English. Also her poetry has been translated to 20 languages, published in literary magazines and anthologies. She frequently writes and presents papers on peace and reunification of her "beloved island"
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. One such paper that gathered attention was the one presented at World Conference on Culture in Stockholm in 1998.
Yaşın directed and presented a literary program called ''41st Room'' at "
CYBC" radio (1992-2007) and the program ''Peace Garden'' (2001-2003) at "ASTRA" radio. She is currently writing weekly columns for "
BirGün
''BirGün'' (''One Day'') is an Istanbul-based Turkish left-wing daily.
The paper was founded in 2004 by a group of Turkish intellectuals. The most important point of the newspaper is that it is not owned by any parent company or conglomerate.
...
" newspaper (Turkey) and "
Yenidüzen" newspaper (Cyprus).
In 2006, she made history in Cyprus when she ran for a position in the parliament of Cyprus after the Cypriot government passed a law allowing Turkish-Cypriots residing in the south to vote in general elections for non Turkish-Cypriot candidates. She became the first Turkish-Cypriot to participate in elections since the departure of the Turkish-Cypriot candidates in 1963.
Yaşın currently teaches at the
University of Cyprus
The University of Cyprus (Greek language, Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Turkish language, Turkish: Kıbrıs Üniversitesi) is a public university, public research institute, research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It ...
at the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies.
Biography from biyografi.net
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Since the mid 1980s, she has been living and working in south Nicosia.
Bibliography
* Hyacinth and Narcissus, 1979, Cem Publications, Istanbul
Awards
* Artist of the Year-''Special Award'' (Republic of Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...
), 1978
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasin, Nese
1959 births
Turkish Cypriot writers
Living people
Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group
Turkish women poets
Türk Maarif Koleji alumni
Academic staff of the University of Cyprus
People from North Nicosia
Middle East Technical University alumni
University of Cyprus alumni