İsmet Özel's Understanding of Poetry

İsmet Özel is regarded as one of the most influential poets of the 20th century for his multifaceted and evolving poetic structure that challenged both the intellectual and formal boundaries of Turkish poetry. His conception of poetry weaves together individual, social, metaphysical and political dimensions, forging a unique poetic language through various ideological phases. Özel’s poetry is not merely an aesthetic creation but also an expression of identity search, existential struggle and intellectual stance.

İsmet Özel (Kanal 7 Archive)

Socialist Poetic Vision and the Socialist Period

In the early years of İsmet Özel’s poetic career, his work reflected individual sensibilities and bore traces of the Second New movement. However, his shift toward a socialist realist approach in the mid-1960s marked a decisive turning point in his poetry. Particularly with the publication of his 1969 book Evet, İsyan, he developed a poetic vision centered on Marxist thought. During this period, poetry became for Özel a tool of class struggle, an ideological opposition and a revolutionary call. Although influenced by Nazım Hikmet, Özel did not imitate him directly; instead, he forged an original discourse attuned to the realities of his own era.

Islamic Transformation

The poem Amentü, published in 1974, became the symbol of İsmet Özel’s most radical transformation, both intellectually and poetically. Questioning his socialist identity, he turned toward Islamic thought and elevated his poetry to an ontological and metaphysical plane. In this new phase, poetry ceased to be primarily about class struggle and became instead an inquiry into human quest for truth and the question of faith. Sezai Karakoç’s concept of “Diriliş” and Necip Fazıl’s metaphysical discourse influenced this period, yet Özel filtered these influences through his own intellectual lens to create something original.

Nationalism and Civilization Critique

From the 1990s onward, Özel’s poetic vision took on a national-conservative character, and his poetry began to be shaped by concepts such as civilization perception, identity construction and cultural independence. His focus on the İstiklâl Marşı and his founding of the İstiklâl Marşı Derneği in 2007 reflect the institutionalization of the nationalist strand in his poetics. For him, poetry had become an intellectual awakening bearing the historical responsibility of a nation. Rejecting ethnic-based nationalism, Özel adopted a poetic stance grounded in Islamic nationalism and civilizational consciousness.

Form, Language and Narrative Features

Despite periodical transformations, İsmet Özel’s poetic language has always been rich in layered meanings. In his early phase, he adopted a simpler, even slogan-like style; in later periods, he transformed this language into a philosophical, symbolic and multi-layered form. Preferring free verse, he moved away from classical meter and rhyme schemes, developing a poetry characterized by long, prose-like sentences that carry intense intellectual density. His poems interweave historical references, religious allusions, ideological concepts and intellectual debates.

Philosophical and Political Depth of His Poetry

Özel’s poetry must be regarded not merely as a literary genre but as a thought-text that makes an existential claim. His work explores profound issues such as individual alienation, society’s search for identity, the stance toward the West, and Türkiye’s cultural and political direction. In this sense, his poetry is not merely a personal expression but a tool for constructing collective consciousness. Neither fully committed to leftist thought nor to Islamism, Özel transformed both currents within his poetry to construct an independent intellectual stance.