Fraser Allen (Turkish Times) | September 15-17 1989
When Necdet Sen goes for a walk in Istanbul, children often shout "Allo!", assuming him to be a foreigner. He certainly doesn't look like the average Turk -- his features are more Asian, his long hair is swept back and the clothes on his tall frame could have been bought from an Oxford Street boutique.
The 33-year old is the creative force behind HIZLI Gazeteci (Speedy Journalist), the highly popular cartoon strip in the left leaning Turkish daily Cumhuriyet.
A sort of highbrow version of British cartoon George and Lynne, HIZLI is the comic strip equivalent of a political soap opera.
The Turkish Times recently visited Sen's flat in Kadiköy. Despite a confirmed appointment, he was surprised to see us and quite clearly didn't have a clue who we were. But, after running his hands through his hair a couple of times, and blinking blearily in the morning light, he smiled and ushered us into his lounge.
While Sen organised some tea, we surveyed the tastefully decorated room, noting his collection of heavy metal music and Playboy magazines. On returning, he slumped into an armchair and urged us to "fire away".
Earning his bread
While chomping manfully through his breakfast of bread, olives and gateaux, Sen recalls how his career got going. "I started when I was born" he says solemnly. "When I was thirteen, I used to draw cartoons instead of studying. My father used to get very angry and say, you must start earning your bread".
"But" he adds, with more than a hint of relish, "he was wrong and I was right. I have earned my bread."
Before hitting the mark with HIZLI Gazeteci, however, Sen's career took a number of turns. He even spent some time working in Bodrum, drawing caricatures of tourists on the street.
It was when he was commissioned to draw for a music magazine called Hey that the idea for the strip came to him. He considered a number of titles before deciding on HIZLI Gazeteci. "Unfortunately" he says, "Hey died after two weeks."
The demise of magazine was no great disaster, though, as an opening with Cumhuriyet soon presented itself, giving Sen the chance to establish one of the most popular strips in Turkey.
HIZLI Gazeteci
The action of HIZLI Gazeteci centres around a man who is identified only as HIZLI Gazeteci. It follows the ebb and flow of his relationships with different women, providing a glimpse at the personal politics of left wing intellectuals in Turkey. Intended to bring a wry smile rather than guffaws to the face of the reader, the strip treats issues -- marriage breakdowns, adultery, social issues -- that can even be morose. Last year HIZLI Gazeteci was seeing a leftist who run into trouble with the government. After being imprisoned and tortured, she returned to him completely traumatized and unable to cope with a physical relationship. Currently he is seeing two women -- Belgin, who loves him but whom he finds too boring and insecure and Mimoza, a married woman, whom he loves but whose burgeoning feminist sense he finds troubling.
HIZLI Gazeteci's life is in a right old pickle, so it's not surprising that Sen is quick to add: "People suppose that is my autobiography but this is not the case. I am a story writer and an artist - I used my imagination."
No affiliation
Sen is not ashamed to admit that he is a socialist although he does not like to be associated with any particular party.
But despite to political content of his work, he claims that the only time that his cartoons have got him into trouble was with people of a more extreme left wing stance. There was one particular incident when a group of "communist" women came round his flat, threatening to beat him up for being a traitor to left-wing ideals.
He now keeps a gun on the bookshelf, which, to the horror of visitors, he was a penchant for wielding in the air cowboy-fashion. It is only after a few terror-filled seconds have elapsed that you realise that the gun is plastic. Şen can' imagine drawing HIZLI Gazeteci for the rest of his life. He has ideas for other characters and other, more ambitious, plans: "I want to be a film director and film writer, I want to be a novelist and I want to be an aeroplane pilot."
Munching into his last piece of gateaux, he adds "My first dream was to be a rock star, but I have feeling that may not come true."
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