Bodrum is currently commemorating famous author and Bodrum native Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, known as the “Fisherman of Halicarnassus,” on the 39th anniversary of his death. Locals have organized a number of different events for the commemoration. Many tourists visit Bodrum at this time of year, but many people also come specifically to attend panels and discussion groups held at the Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı Museum. A memorial event was also held at Kabaağaçlı’s gravesite in the Gümbet district of Bodrum.
Kabaağıçlı really loved Bodrum, Mayor Ali Galip Güven said, speaking at the commemorative events.
Kabaağaçlı was deeply associated with Bodrum, where he came to live in 1927 under a three-year sentence of exile and fell under the town’s spell, Güven said, adding that the commemoration allows Kabaağaçlı’s life story to be told once again in Bodrum, as well as an exploration of his literary life.
After serving the last part of his sentence in Istanbul, Kabaağaçlı returned and settled in Bodrum, where he lived for 25 years, hence his penname, which refers to Halicarnassus, the ancient name of the city.
He is largely credited for bringing the formerly sleepy fishing and sponge-diving town of Bodrum, as well as the entire shoreline now famous for “blue cruises,” to the attention of the Turkish intelligentsia and the reading public, and, by extension, for paving the way towards the region’s development as an international tourist attraction.
(Anatolia News Agency)
