Chingiz Huseynov: Nazim Hikmet’s life is an "escape story"

86-year-old Azerbaijani writer Chingiz Huseynov, who witnessed the life of the famous Turkish poet and writer Nazim Hikmet, told Haberturk about his memories of the years spent by Nazim Hikmet in a foreign land far from home.



Chingiz Huseynov is one of those with whom Nazim Hikmet Ran met during the Soviet era. He was a guest of the 13th International Ankara Story Days. Despite the fact that his books were sold in France and the United States, Huseynov published his first novel in Turkey only 30 years later, in May of this year. He spoke about those years that Nazim Hikmet spent longing for home and his acquaintance with him.



In 1947, Huseynov, who was then 20 years old, studied Russian language and literature at Moscow State University. Born in Baku, being away from his native Azerbaijan, he made friends with other Turkic-speaking people. His closest friend was an Azerbaijani and lover of literature Ekber Babayev, who was older than him by 4-5 years. This friendship has helped Huseynov to follow the life of Nazim Hikmet and to communicate to him from time to time.



Chingiz Huseynov, who was then a very young writer, shared his memories of the events of that time until his death of Nazim Hikmet on June 3, 1963.



Today Azerbaijani writer lives in Peredelkino near Moscow. Here he once visited Nazim. When guests come to him from Turkey, he leads them to Nazim’s house and makes a tour for them.



A close friend of Huseynov Ekber Babaev introduced the writer to Nazim. "He was the first person to read Nazim Hikmet in Turkish. Things that Nazim wrote were firstly read by Babaev. He was his son, and his child, and one who protected him. He was interested in everything that was associated with Nazim, he bought him cigarettes. He worried all the time about his needs “, Huseynov said. According to Huseynov, in this period Babayev was a member of the Communist Party, but later, during the Soviet rule, Babaev had problems associated with the independent nature of Nazim. "After a while, Babaev was expelled from the party. The note made public the reasons for which Babaev was expelled from the party. The reason was “sincere relationship with the people who had come from abroad”. Later it became clear that it meant friendship with Nazim Hikmet. However, Communist Party denied it. But we believe that Babaev was in trouble because of his friendship with Nazim”, Huseynov said.



He considered everyone to be his friend

- What kind of person was Nazim Hikmet, from your point of view?



- He highly appreciated the word. Nazim Hikmet believed that if you say the word, these words come straight from the heart. So he could not understand when the words did not correspond to actions. He was a very good man with an open heart. He considered everyone to be his friend. I learned that from him.



- In your opinion, did Nazim Hikmet work for the Russians, as it is sometimes claimed?



- No, these statements are certainly not true. He just believed in a set of universal values. Nazim needed to find himself at this stage. To go further, he needed to be a communist. He did not want to write anything against Turkey, but he did not like something what he saw in Russia. He wrote of Stalin for the first time that summer. But he did not write any criticism of Turkey.



I'll tell you about one of my recollections about this. Many years ago I was in Turkey. I was very excited. I got into a taxi in Istanbul, and the driver asked, "Where are you from?". When I said, "From Russia", he replied: "A poet and a traitor lives there". When he said it, I said: 'I won’t go with you...” You do not know him, you did not hear him, what you're doing is just propaganda. Nazim Hikmet is the great son of Turkey", I said. After that the driver did not dropped me, we had a long conversation.



Defender of the Turkish language




- How, in your opinion, did Nazim Hikmet represent Turkey in the Soviet Union?



- He was the defender of the Turkish language. For example, we twice went together to Azerbaijan, to Baku. At that time, the anniversary of birth of Fizuli was celebrated. All meetings were held in Russian. But when Nazim went to the pulpit and said in Turkish, "Dear brothers," the entire audience stood up and began to applaud. Because hearing Azerbaijani language, some of the Turkic languages was very important for us. Sitting people literally jumped up. Everyone stood. In the Soviet Union he was considered a great poet, but nobody could fully understand him. The same goes for Pushkin. What he wrote in Russian is also beautiful, but Nazim Hikmet is a poet who cannot be translated. It is impossible to convey the richness of his Turkish poems in Russian translation.



- Do you have any memory connected with how he yearned for Turkey?



- One of our friends, a writer, traveled to Turkey as a guest of the Ambassador. When he came back, we all went to him. Nazim Hikmet was also sitting there, he was at a loss. He looked with surprise at Turkish newspapers and recently published books. Our friend was very pleased, he told me how he loved Istanbul and so on. I looked closer and saw that Nazim Hikmet was very worried. He listened, but he was sad. Then Nazim Hikmet asked our friend to give him one book. But the friend replied, "You know, I want to tell the story of my trip, I cannot give away any of the books." Nazim was offended. He immediately stood up and walked out. But as he was upset, he left his sunglasses. In that period in Russia finding sunglasses, not to mention buying it, was impossible. I followed him and gave him the glasses. Now, I sometimes think I would hide them - there would be something from his memory. But then the sunglasses were a rarity. I did not want him to stay without glasses.



Nazim Hikmet’s escapes...


- You have a special expression to describe Nazim Hikmet’s life. You called it an "escape story". Why?



- I say that in his life there were 4 escapes. The first escape was from Turkey to the Soviet Union, that is, escape from prison to prison, from one lack of freedom to another. First of all, this escape was caused by hope, but in the Soviet Union, his hopes began to fade a little. He looked happy, but deep down, he suffered. He reproached himself.



The second escape: the KGB had sent him a woman. This was a very simple, very beautiful woman, a doctor. Galina was a doctor, but we thought she was gathering information for the KGB. Nazim Hikmet had heart problems, and he needed doctor's supervision. Then Galina became his lover. But she did not let Nazim Hikmet leave the house. She literally stuck to him, did not leave him alone, was present at every conversation. She did not speak Turkish, but she listened to everything. At that time, Nazim fell in love with one woman, Vera Tulyakova. You know that every poet should have his own muse. The poet's heart should beat frequently. But how could he escape from Galina, leave her? He called Ekber Babaev. They sat in the evening at home. Then Nazim Hikmet said that he would accompany Ekber and left the house in slippers. Ekber bought train tickets for Nazim andVera. That's how they run away together when they were not married.



And the third escape... His life was full of suffering. One day he ran away from life to death. He was killed by homesickness, I am one hundred percent sure. Every morning he went out to pick up a newspaper, I think he was waiting in the mailbox for news which will allow him to return to his native Turkey. He was anxiously looking over his newspaper, but, as you know, is one such morning a cardiac arrest occurred.



- And, according to your expression, Nazim Hikmet thus escaped to death...



- There is a fourth escape. Of course, I say this today. I was at his funeral. Then a headstone was installed on his grave. I saw this monument together with Aziz Nesin. That day I took a long look at the monument. You know, his gravestone shows a silhouette of Nazim Hikmet in full growth. As if Nazim wants to get off the rock. That is, he wants to escape from death, to get off the stone, to come to us. He still wants to return to his homeland. Now I understand that.



Huseynov was also banned



- Let's talk about your own history. You have also had problems related to your writing activities. What was it to be an Azerbaijani writer?



- I was banned. For 14 years, from 1970 to 1984, they did not give me permission to leave Russia. I studied at the department of literature, but for some reason my previous trips, my meetings in Turkey interfered with something. My first novel, "Magomed, Mamed, Mamish", was published. At first, I wrote my memories. In my novel I described Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. Abroad, it has caused a lot of interest. It was immediately published in the United States. I was invited to a presentation of the book, but I was restricted to travel abroad. I was not given permission, and I could not go to the United States. After that, a novel was published in France. But the French Union of Writers started to act. They reported all the official bodies that they have invited me. In the end, I was given permission to go to France. I went to Paris for a week, but the program has been designed for 10 days. The French wanted me to stay, but I did not dare. Who would have thought in 1984 that the Soviet Union will fall apart? We all thought that it would last forever, so we were afraid to be banned from entering. But then the Soviet Union collapsed.



After 30 years in Turkish ...

- Now, 30 years later, your novel has finally been published in the Turkish language in the translation of Prof. Dr. Birsen Karaca. Why is this novel, which caused so much interest among readers in the United States and France, reached the Turkish readers with such a delay?


- In my novel I have described life in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. At that time many people were living contrary to their beliefs. That is, they did not express their thoughts, did not follow what they said. Of course, this novel did not please to some people. Publishing it in Russian was associated with great difficulty. But right after that it was published in the United States. In Western countries, it was of great interest. It was published in France. But in Turkey, it has not been published. I have since that time thought about it. In part, this was because in the 1980s in Turkey the right and the left were divided. At the time, the left did not want to publish my book in Turkish. They did not want criticism of the Soviet Union, did not want such a description of Azerbaijan. The right at that time also did not show any interest in the Russian writer. That is, the right did not want to publish the book because it was a book by Russian writer and the left did not want to publish the book because it contained criticism of Russia. But now I am glad that the book will be accessible to readers in Turkey.