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you welcome, catwoman.
Nesin's marvelous career in satire began with the publication of a seminal weekly satirical paper in 1946: Marko Paşa. Today everyone acknowledges that its publication marks the beginning of a new era for satire and represents a classic, heroic fight against political oppression.
The year 1946 marked the end of six long years of economic deprivation and social disorganization, long periods of martial law and consequent political oppression. Turkey, under national and international pressure, had accepted the multiparty system, and many laws were passed which were respectful of human rights. But under the rule of a traditionally very touchy government, how many such legal changes would become a reality remained to be seen. At that tim, Aziz Nesin, along with Sabahattin Ali, a well-known short story writer, began publishing Marko Paşa. Their aim was simply to satirize life and particularly to expose political oppression through satire. From the beginning the paper was very successful, selling sometimes as many copies as a daily newspaper. As expected, the political circles immediately reacted, and the publication of the weekly was mentioned in the Parliament as the single piece of evidence proving the need for martial law in the country. Thus, after the third issue of Marko Paşa was released, Aziz Nesin and Sabahattin Ali were arrested; they were, however, released after twenty days without a trial. Publication continued. The major writer (Nesin) and the owner (Ali) developed strategies to avoid the arbitrary application of penal law, but in spite of all the planning, both men have been arrested and jailed more than once for their writings in Marko Paşa. They persisted with its publication in the face of this opposition, making modifications in the name, such as Free Marko Paşa, New Marko Paşa, or Well-Known Paşa, or merely giving it the name of its declared owner and responsible director.
Aziz Nesin's fight to keep Marko Paşa alive is indeed an example, on an international scale, of the classical struggle for human rights against political oppression. During the period of its publication, no institutionalized rebellion was possible, but satire, particularly of the high quality achieved by Marko Paşa, could and did exert the necessary pressure to change the responsible institutions and networks. Marko Paşa closed down permanently in 1951. The meteoric career of Aziz Nesin continues. He has written in many different genres, with all the same artistry and boundless energy. The story of his childhood which follows in this volume, though not one of his typical works, is a story of Turkey - a story "just out of Aziz Nesin." We recognize the legacy with pride.
http://menic.utexas.edu/cmes/pub/iboy/iboy.html
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