Istanbul in Turkish Detective Literature - Erol Hedefpazarcı
ISTANBUL IN TURKISH POLITICAL LITERATURE
I thought it would be interesting to describe Istanbul as a setting in Turkish Detective Literature . In my opinion, it is not surprising that Istanbul , one of the most attractive and seductive cities on earth, plays a leading role in the detective novel, the most attractive and seductive section of literature. Istanbul is featured with all its attractiveness as a location not only in Turkish Detective Literature but also in many detective novels in other languages, but we will make this the subject of another article.
In the first copyrighted detective novel in our literature, Mısır-ı Cinayat, written by Ahmet Mithat Efendi, the event takes place "on the seventeenth Tuesday of July, corresponding to the year of the 1200 Hijri calendar." It starts with a news story in the newspapers published in Istanbul . Fishermen returning from fishing in the Black Sea find the bodies of a young girl and two men in the Öreketaşı area at the Black Sea exit of the Bosphorus . In the novel, the Istanbul of the period, especially Beyoğlu, where the heroes of the novel lived, is depicted in full detail. Ahmet Mithat Efendi , "Our Father", as the journalists of the period called him, would later use Istanbul as a setting in his other detective novels and convey that period of the city to us with his colorful narrative. 
DOCUMENTARY INFORMATION
II. Our city once again plays a leading role as a location in local detective novel writing, which experienced a huge boom after 1908 with the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy .
One of the most successful detective series of this period , Ebüssüreyya Sami 's Amanvermez Avni series is worth examining with particular interest.
In addition to successful detective fiction, the works also contain documentary information about the Istanbul of that period. The author knows Istanbul , especially Beyoğlu , very well and knows the police organization of the period very well.
In the stories, our hero lives in a two-storey, three-room house on Kazancı Hill in Beyoğlu with his assistant Arif , who is his own Doctor Watson . In the story of the Black Killer, when his enemies burn this house, he moves to Tepebaşı . He likes drinking coffee with milk and finger-thick cigarettes that he rolls himself. He speaks French , Greek and Armenian . One room of her house is a changing and make-up room, and she also has a small laboratory in this room. The information he gave about Istanbul II. It is very valuable for us to get to know the Istanbul of the Abdulhamid period and, as we mentioned above, it is a documentary.
Istanbul also plays a leading role as a setting in the novels Fakabasmaz Zihni, written by Hüseyin Nadir , which is the Turkish version of the Fantoma type created by the Allain-Souvestre duo.
Zihni has four underground palaces in four different parts of Istanbul : Florya , Karacaahmet , Erenköy and Boğaz . In these palaces, electricity is produced with a dynamo. For example, 950 electric lights are on in the building in Florya . In every underground palace, there are rooms where important documents such as photographs, clichés and fingerprints are kept; There are weapons and ammunition depots. Since he was very interested in weapons, he also established a weapons museum in the building in Florya . Clothing changing and make-up facilities are always at hand. These underground dwellings, which have a large kitchen and beautiful guest rooms, also have an electric chair and guillotine to be used when necessary.
Like these two series, Istanbul is also included in the TV series Arsene Lupine of the Turks, Nahit Sırrı, Elegeçmez Kadri, Satan Hadiye, Pire Necmi, Kara Hüseyin, Yıldırım Cemal, which the readers of that period read with curiosity, and the writers of the series introduce us to the Istanbul of the period. 
THE MOST STUNNING ONE IS CINGÖZ RECAI
The most striking figure of this period is undoubtedly Cingöz Recai, written by Peyami Safa under the name Server Bedi . This most well-known detective novel hero of all time is, to put it colloquially, a complete 'flicker' of Istanbul . He is a well-educated child of a respectable family, speaks English very well, is a womanizer who is fond of women, steals for pleasure, shares what he steals from the rich with the poor, in this context, he is a 'good bandit' character who takes the property of the bad and distributes it to the poor. All Cingöz Recai stories take place in various districts of Istanbul and these districts are described with the lively writing of Server Bedi . Thus, the Istanbul of the 1920s comes to life in our eyes with all its colors. For example, we read that Mecidiyeköy , which is occupied by plazas today, is a village on the outskirts of Istanbul , as its name suggests, that Albanian milkmen run their dairies and cows wander under mulberry trees, and that Istanbulites have picnics in the countryside cafes there. On the other hand, the two luxury hotels of the period, Pera Palas and Tokatlıyan , are two historical Istanbul places described in detail in many Cingöz Recai novels. For example , Sherlock Holmes, who is invited to Istanbul to catch Cingöz Recai, is hosted at Pera Palace.
Cingöz Recai has houses in various parts of Istanbul . While he lives like a rich bourgeois in his garden mansion in Rumelihisarı , he lives like a well-to-do retiree in his modest house in Eyüp and shares what he steals from the rich with the needy poor in Eyüp . 
WOMEN COLLEGE HEROES
Tilki Leman, one of Server Bedi 's heroes other than Cingöz Recai and Grasshopper Zehra They are the clever girls of Istanbul . Again, they rob the fraudulent rich people and take their place in the colorful life of Istanbul .
Again II. After the Constitutional Monarchy , Armenian writer Yervant Odyan 's phenomenal novel Abdulhamid and Sherlock Holmes is a work that describes Istanbul not only with its places but also with the well-known people and gossip of the period.
Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar 's Severed Head, like all Gürpınar novels, is a work that will be read with interest even today, with its interesting structure in terms of fiction, focusing on Istanbul as a setting and the people of Istanbul .
In the stories of Raif Cenap , the hero of the TV series "Marvelous Adventures of a Police Detective " by the author who uses the pseudonym Alev Can and whose identity I have not been able to identify despite all my efforts, suburban summer resorts such as Bulgurlu in Istanbul are used as settings.
What's in the Dark Mansion?, an interesting work written by the author using the name M. Akil . In addition to its interesting subject, it is the first novel in the horror genre that uses many locations from Şişli to Boğaz villages.
For the writers of the Early Republican period, Istanbul always plays a leading role in our detective literature with its various aspects. For example, Yılmaz Ali , the hero of Vala Nurettin Va-Nu , who is the subject of the first detective film in Turkey , is a good Istanbul boy, a graduate of Galatasaray High School , and knows the four corners of Istanbul like his home. While telling the stories of Yılmaz Ali, Va-Nu brings to life the Istanbul of the period with the sweet journalistic language. The same situation is valid in the novel Night of Two Murders by Hikmet Feridun Es, a well-known journalist of the period. The work, which is about two murders, one in Topkapı and the other in Taksim , depicts these two districts vividly with their people. 
ISTANBUL UNDER BRITISH OCCUPATION
The works of the productive writer İskender Fahrettin Sertelli , whose name is forgotten today, named Spy Lawrence in Istanbul and Women with 25 Husbands, are works about Istanbul and its people under British occupation between 1918 and 1923. The narrative of Sertelli , who knew and lived through this period very well, has documentary qualities.
Ercüment Ekrem Talu 's detective agency stories, which he opened with the cute Istanbul bully Torik Necmi , friend of his hero Meşhedi , who was very popular and popular in his time, attract attention not only because they are a parody of police novels, but also because they take place and tell the story of summer resorts such as Erenköy .
Also published in the 1930s, our famous writer Halide Edip Adıvar 's Yolpalas Cinayeti attracts attention as a novel that examines the change in the value judgments of the people of the big city with its line about the vulgar new rich people who were watched with horror by the old Istanbul gentlemen and ladies.
The novels of journalist Ziya Şakir , who was born and raised in Istanbul and knows Istanbul life very well, in which he takes the famous Gavur Mehmet, one of the police officers of the Abdulhamid period, as the hero, are truly works of documentary importance for this period. With the fluent writing of Ziya Şakir , who lived and knew the period closely, the Istanbul of those days, its people, events and value judgments are described. Especially in these detective works, the conflicts between the majority minority members in Beyoğlu and its surroundings, the British , French and Italian trade-oriented group called Levantines, and the local Istanbul people are described very strikingly. These are works that, in addition to their fiction, should also be considered as source works in order to fully understand that period.
The subtle detective novel The Fourteenth of the Month by Refik Halit Karay, one of our writers who use Istanbul Turkish best, tells an interesting event that took place in one of the summer resorts of Istanbul .
The detective novels written by Cevat Fehmi Başkut , known for his theater plays, most of which remained in newspapers as serials, are awaiting the attention of publishers. The protagonist of these novels is Rıdvan Sadulllah Bey , an Istanbul gentleman. Doctor Watson, our amateur detective who investigates events that take place in various districts of Istanbul and that the police cannot solve, is also the author himself. 
KEMAL TAHİR POLICIES
The Mystery of Bin Nedim's Divanı, written by our master writer Kemal Tahir under the pseudonym Bedri Eser, deserves attention both with its interesting subject - there is no murder in this detective novel, but there are crimes and mysteries - and its detective work of an old Istanbul lord from the Ottoman period. The four Mike Hammer stories, written by Kemal Tahir during the " Mike Hammer" trend that dominated the 1950s, attract attention with the fact that the hero behaves and speaks like an Istanbul bully, even though the events take place in New York . For example, when Mike Hammer gets bored in New York , he will say , "This is the New York city I spit on," and when the situation becomes difficult, he will say, "We pulled the wine from the barrel, son, we will drink it to the end." he will say. We don't know if these words fit the lips of Mike Hammer, who, in the words of Afif Yesari, who wrote 180 fake Mike Hammer novels, is "actually a cold and unreasonable scoundrel" ; It suits Kemal Tahir 's more humane, more likable and tougher Mike Hammer, the typical Istanbul bully.
Ümit Deniz , the creator of journalist Murat Davman , one of the most colorful characters of our post-1950 detective literature, was born and raised in Moda and is a true Istanbul child. He is a good journalist who is famous for his interviews. While reading the adventures of his hero, who is also a journalist, we have the opportunity to get to know Istanbul with all its colors, especially Babıali Street and its surroundings, where the entire Istanbul press world was together at that time. Murat Davman , who lives in his rich family's mansion on Halaskargazi Street , will deal with the sinister women with whom he is in love, and with the events that happen to him in different corners of Istanbul .
Zühal Kuyaş 's quality detective novel, Sonuncu Oda, published in the 1960s, takes place in a magnificent mansion on the Bosphorus. Emre Kongar 's historical detective novel , Hocaefendi's Ark, which I like very much, captivates the reader with the interesting developments that took place in Istanbul during the reign of Mehmet the Conqueror .
In the works of Ahmet Ümit and Celil Oker , the two leading names of Turkish Detective Literature, which gained great momentum after 1990, Istanbul plays an important role as a setting and sometimes even becomes one of the heroes of the novel. 
AHMET ÜMİT'S ISTANBUL
For example, in Ahmet Ümit 's Beyoğlu Rhapsody, Beyoğlu , which the author knows very well and lives in, takes its place as the fourth hero next to the three heroes of the novel.
In Istanbul Memory , Ahmet Ümit writes a lament for the ancient city of Istanbul in a successful detective fiction. The city, whose historical texture and unique structure we constantly betray, seems to be screaming out its expressed rebellion.
Istanbul also plays the leading role in Killing the Sultan . The incident develops among well-known historians, but the equally impressive heroes of the work are people who lived almost six centuries ago: First of all, Fatih Sultan Mehmet , his father Mehmet II. Murat , his son II. Bayezid , his grand vizier Çandarlı Halil, who was inherited from his father and later killed, and other viziers... These appear before us as impressively as those living today. First, "Did Fatih Sultan Mehmet poison his father?" While we think, we are soon shaken by the suspicion that Fatih was poisoned to death by his son Bayezit . The novel is a successful synthesis of the history of Istanbul and detective fiction.
In the author's other work related to Istanbul , Beyoğlu's Most Beautiful Brother, the event begins on December 31, 1913 and ends on January 3, 2014. The developments take place in the dirty and cruel streets of Tarlabaşı in Istanbul . Tarlabaşı , which was inhabited by middle-class non-Muslim Istanbulites a century ago, but fell into the hands of traps after the events we all know, and now creates the hope of a new source of income with the subject of 'restructuring', is one of the main heroes of the story.
As you can see, our master writer knows how to describe Istanbul with its history and problems in successful detective fiction. 
CELİL OKER'S DETECTIVE
As for the late Celil Oker , one of the masters who accelerated Turkish Detective Literature together with Ahmet Ümit , who we passed away in 2019: “Resigned from the Turkish Air Force , expelled from Turkish Airlines , no self-respecting (frequentfly) could name his name.” "Someone who can't even get a hold of eighth-grade charter companies he's never even heard of," He wanders the streets of Istanbul with his interesting detective, Remzi Ünal ; We see and follow all the streets of the Etiler and Ulus districts, where he lives, one by one, in his novels. Our mysterious city always plays a leading role in his works, as in his last novel , Don't Shoot Istanbul . 
NEW GENERATION POLITICIANS
The writers of the new generation who follow these two masters continue to give Istanbul a leading role in their novels. For example, Çağatay Yaşmut 's hero, Captain Galip , is an Istanbul boy who lives in Kadıköy and loves this district very much.
Ercan Akbay 's murdered heroes generally live in Nişantaşı and its surroundings.
Cem Beyoğlu, Nihal Taştekin 's timid, emotional, cultured lawyer who is fond of reading detective novels and admires Bukowski 's detective Nicky Belane , pursues his utopia and opens a private detective office in one of the dilapidated buildings in Taksim Sıraselviler .
Esma Aykol 's hero, amateur detective Kati Hirşelise , owns a shop selling detective books in Kuledibi . He is 45 years old but doesn't look more than 35. She is someone who spends most of her money to maintain her beauty, has an old Peugeot car, a house she rents in Cihangir , and friends scattered around various parts of Istanbul .
Alper Canıgüz 's five-year-old launch detective, Alper Kamu , is a genius kid living on the streets of Kadıköy 's Mimli district, famous as the old Paris District .
Armağan Tunaboylu 's pimp detective Metin Çakır is someone who became a detective to escape the bad consequences of unfortunate coincidences that happened to him while practicing his profession. Metin Çakır shows us another aspect of Istanbul in all its nakedness.
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As we have seen in this short and rapid tour of ideas, our mysterious, cute, scary, attractive, sometimes cruel, sometimes kind, sometimes innocent as fairies, sometimes very dirty city plays a dominant role in Turkish Detective Literature with all its appeal.