Mr. U\u011fur, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. We would like to get to know you. In some of your conversations, you mentioned the influence of the neighborhood where you spent your childhood and its socio-cultural structure on your future. Could you describe that period a bit?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
I was born in 1941 in Fener, located on the Golden Horn in Istanbul\u2014one of the most beautiful districts of the city. My childhood passed in what could be considered a happy environment, in a three-story mansion made of Malta stone and built in a Baroque architectural style, where three generations\u2014from grandfather to grandchildren\u2014lived under the same roof.\n\nAt that time, there was no such concept in our society as \u201cpre-school education.\u201d However, in our neighborhood, there were homes and caregivers where working young Jewish and Greek mothers\u2014almost all of whom spoke at least two languages\u2014had to leave their children. One of these was the house of Kirya Despina, located on Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m Street just behind our mansion. From the age of three until I was six\u2014until I started attending Fethiye Primary School\u2014I was educated there!\n\nThose were years of limited means and modest living conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since these difficulties were not reflected much on me as a child, I did not feel the hardships of those years very deeply. However, over time, the limited goods distributed to meet our basic needs, the \u201cIssued\u201d stamps on my ID card, and the blackout curtains on all the windows of our mansion began to make sense to me.\n\nThe series of wars that began in 1939, when the madman Hitler\u2014who believed himself to be the leader of the world\u2014invaded Poland, had, within two years, turned almost the entire world into a battlefield (1941). After four difficult years, we managed to avoid entering the war.\n\nFener was a district where Greek and Turkish were spoken almost equally. Every afternoon, a newspaper vendor with a strap would run from Fener toward Balat, shouting at the top of his lungs, \u201cApoyamatini erhete!\u201d (\u201cThe Apoyamatini newspaper has arrived!\u201d). He would stop in front of some houses and slip newspapers under the doors. As far as I know, it is now published once a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did you start your professional career, and how did your journey with Alt\u0131n Kitaplar Publishing House begin?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I joined the company in 1964. At the time, its name was \u201cAziz Bozkurt and Partners Collective Company.\u201d Since it was a collective company, it was legally bound under Aziz Bey\u2019s name in commercial matters. After Dr. Turhan Bozkurt, Aziz Bey was one of the most capable individuals among the company\u2019s partners.\n\nSome time after Aziz Bey\u2019s passing, I proposed establishing a printing house to honor his memory, and even suggested naming it \u201cAS Printing House,\u201d reviving the name of the printing house that had closed following the division of his estate. When this idea was well received by the partners, I took action.\n\nDuring that period, fortune was on my side regarding my allocation request to the chambers of commerce and industry. We imported a new letterpress printing machine, along with additional equipment to make the existing Alt\u0131n Kitaplar bookbinding workshop more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Alt\u0131n Kitaplar, which became a leading publishing house producing three books a week, there were two of us working side by side\u2014the Doctor and myself. Of course, I cannot overlook the contributions of our translators who brought life to the company, Do\u011fan H\u0131zlan who served as our editor and advisor for a period, as well as our proofreaders, printing staff, and sales team.\n\nDuring my wonderful working life under that roof, which lasted nearly 30 years, I made such meaningful friendships\u2026 I consider all of them part of my wealth of memories. I wish continued success to Alt\u0131n Kitaplar, to which I devoted myself and earned my livelihood, just as in those days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how did you decide to establish your own venture, Golden Medya?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Since the projects I proposed as an expansion of AS Printing House were not appreciated\u2014except by Dr. Turhan Bozkurt\u2014we had to part ways. I immediately established Golden Print, and a few years later, in order to have a family company, I founded Golden Medya Inc.\n\nMy two sons (Levent and Yi\u011fit), my wife, and I were involved. During a period when I was experiencing health problems, Yi\u011fit worked with us for a while. However, he had previous experience in the United States and chose to continue there. In that sense, he became our partner from afar, although he visits frequently.\n\nAs for more recent times, I have transferred most of the responsibility to my elder son Levent. Thankfully, as someone well-trained in his profession, he successfully represents and manages our company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About 25 years ago, the Kanaat family transferred all the publications they had to me free of charge. This was a great honor for me. Yes, I had supported the Kanaat Publishing House\u2014one that I truly loved\u2014for many years, both in the printing and sales of their atlases and the famous Takvim-i Rag\u0131p. But such generosity from the owners of a century-old institution was truly remarkable.\n\nI decided to incorporate Kanaat into Golden Print and continue on this path. This year marks the 98th anniversary of Takvim-i Rag\u0131p. The goal I set 25 years ago was the 100th anniversary\u2014just like our Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you think of \u201cfirsts\u201d in your professional career, what comes to mind?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Among the important \u201cfirsts\u201d in my professional life, I believe the most valuable was printing the Modern Mathematics book, which had entered Aziz Bozkurt\u2019s field of competition and was extremely difficult to produce.\n\nFor the first time in Turkey, I managed to have the Modern Mathematics signatures\u2014amounting to a total of 25 tons\u2014printed in a single day on two machines at Tifdruk Offset, where Do\u011fan Karde\u015f (as well as Hayat, Ses, and Resimli Roman magazines) were printed.\n\nOf course, this achievement was made possible thanks to my esteemed mentors and close friends. I could never pass without mentioning them one by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When, 24 hours after taking on the job, I went to Aziz Bey\u2019s office at Ders Kitaplar\u0131 Inc. and told him, \u201cAll the signatures have been printed,\u201d he didn\u2019t believe me. When he learned the truth, he was so pleased that he said to me, \u201cFrom now on, I will call you U\u011fur Abi,\u201d which left me quite embarrassed.\n\nThen he turned to those around him and said, \u201cYou should address him that way too, okay?\u201d Among them, only the manager Burhan \u00d6zt\u00fcrk\u2014almost the same age as my father\u2014said, \u201cWell done, U\u011fur Abi,\u201d extended his hand, and we shook hands.\n\nWhen I left there and returned to Alt\u0131n Kitaplar, somehow\u2014just as they say, \u201cthe walls have ears\u201d\u2014my dear Dr. Turhan had already heard the news and welcomed me with congratulations. Perhaps anticipating that others might not take this \u201cAbi\u201d title seriously, just as I was heading to my office, he said, \u201cOh dear, U\u011fur\u2026\u201d May he rest in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could you also tell us the story of your first encounter with a stationery shop?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I had finished Fethiye Primary School, and in fact, a whole summer had passed since then. Together with my late father, we set off toward Bab-\u0131 Ali to buy the books and stationery supplies I would need for the first grade at Gedikpa\u015fa Secondary School, where I had just enrolled.\n\nAfter getting off the dolmu\u015f in Emin\u00f6n\u00fc and heading toward the New Mosque, my father held my hand tightly, warning me, \u201cDon\u2019t let go of my hand.\u201d The chaos of the crowd around us, the shouts of porters carrying long poles, the cries of \u201cMake way!\u201d and \u201cStand back!\u201d from the back-load carriers, and the handcarts moving in zigzags clearly made my father uneasy.\n\nWhen we finally reached the marble courtyard of the New Mosque at a fast pace and paused to catch our breath, the air we inhaled was a bitter blend of coal smoke coming from the chimneys of the ferries on both sides of the bridge and the spices drifting from the entrance of the Egyptian Bazaar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s hurry a bit,\u201d my father said. We quickly passed through the tunnel at the end of the square. As we walked a little further, I was quite frightened by the screeching curve sounds of a tram moving from Bah\u00e7ekap\u0131 toward Sirkeci, starting from \u015eekerci Haf\u0131z Mustafa and continuing to Hac\u0131 Bekir Square. For a moment, I thought the tram might derail.\n\nWe walked a bit toward Sirkeci, and then, turning right off the tram line, we arrived at Ankara Street\u2014whose name I would learn years later while studying at Istanbul High School. At one end stood Sirkeci Train Station, the final stop of the Orient Express, and at the bend on the other end was Bab-\u0131 Ali, the last administrative center of the Ottoman Empire.\n\nWalking under the shade of awnings, we moved along the narrow slope, admiring the carefully arranged stationery shop displays. At some point, captivated by the attraction of one shop window, we paused to look. When a warm invitation came from inside, we entered the shop.\n\n\u201cWelcome, what were you looking at?\u201d\n\u201cLet\u2019s start with notebooks.\u201d\n\u201cHow many sections would you like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We look at each other. I point to the one labeled \u201cHigh School Notebook\u201d and say, \u201cThis will do.\u201d I was about to start middle school, but I was deeply impressed by the words \u201cHigh School Notebook\u201d on the cover. My father glanced at the list in his hand and started listing items:\n\n\u201cYellow notebook, two high school notebooks\u2014make sure they\u2019re not thin. A mechanical pencil\u2014I\u2019ll need that too, make it two. A compass set, set square, protractor, ruler, pencils, a drawing notebook, and an eraser\u2026 Oh, and a pencil sharpener.\u201d\n\nThe shop assistant took out a tin box from the glass display in front of him and showed it to me. Inside were pencils in rainbow-like colors\u2014more than I could count, maybe twelve. I instantly fell in love with the tin box. On the lid, it said \u201cA. W. Faber Castell.\u201d But what truly captivated me was the image beneath the text\u2014depicting knights from feudal times battling on horseback with lances.\n\nEven at that age, I could somewhat grasp its meaning: the lance in the hand of the winner was shaped like a \u201cpencil.\u201d At that moment, I thought to myself, \u201cHooray, I\u2019m finally getting rid of the sliding wooden case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At one point, I stepped outside and began to carefully look at the display window. As I admired the gleaming fountain pens, memories passed through my mind one by one\u2014ink bottles that I used to shake in my school bag to test their \u201cnon-spill\u201d feature, only to have them spill every time and earn a scolding from my mother, along with nibs, holders, and dip pens.\n\nNow I was a middle school student. It must have been time for me to own a proper fountain pen. I thought I could achieve this wish with a small insistence to my father. And that\u2019s exactly what I did. I took the shop assistant by the hand and pulled him toward the display window facing the street, pointing with my finger to the \u201cFaber\u201d fountain pen I liked the most.\n\nIn case my father hesitated, I prepared myself to be like the victorious knight\u2014adding a touch of emotional persuasion\u2014and said to him, \u201cWell, I suppose I\u2019m old enough to use a fountain pen now.\u201d My father wasn\u2019t particularly stingy. He didn\u2019t object, but he warned me, \u201cDon\u2019t take it to school\u2014you\u2019ll get it stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shop assistant must have immediately realized that my father would be an easy customer, because to secure the deal, he said, \u201cTo make the young man happy, I\u2019ll offer you a nice treat (discount), and the ink will be my gift,\u201d effectively cutting short any further bargaining.\n\nJust as we were about to leave the shop, my father remembered the school bag and asked the assistant where we could buy one. The assistant replied, \u201cFrom Mercan Slope\u2014go down past the coppersmiths, just a little further, then the street on the left. I can even recommend a shop for you,\u201d and handed my father a small note with directions written on it.\n\nMy father thanked him, saying, \u201cWe\u2019ll check that out later.\u201d\n\nThe list of textbooks we had already purchased, along with the compulsory navy-blue school cap of those years\u2014trimmed with a yellow stripe, a shiny visor, and a brass badge\u2014had completely slipped my mind. At that moment, my only thought was to get home as soon as possible, to test myself by writing and to show off my skills in drawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suppose it must be a passion dating back to those years. During my time at Alt\u0131n Kitaplar, whenever I had the opportunity, I carefully designed the cover graphics of some books\u2014especially the scientific series. Even today, when I look at those works, I still admire them.\n\nHandan Stationery, Teknik Stationery, and Bak\u0131\u015f Stationery were among the main shops where I used to shop. The introduction of Letraset into the market brought great convenience and innovation to graphic design work. I benefited from it greatly. It has been quite some time since those tools became obsolete. Now, we are living in a completely new era with computers and an extraordinary range of software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How would you define the relationship between stationery and books?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Books and stationery are like two halves of an apple. The other two halves of another apple are the producers and distribution companies. In terms of appeal, especially with the rich variety in recent years, stationery seems to be ahead (at least in my opinion). I closely follow developments in domestic production and find them successful.\n\nNaturally, I have many valuable friends from both halves of those two apples. In fact, we even have a group we call the \u201cGuild,\u201d where we hold periodic meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are your hobbies and interests?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I never wanted to take the sea and boating out of my life. However, toward the late 1970s, I gave up. I sold my boat and engine. The last person I handed my boat over to in Atak\u00f6y, Mr. Fahri, was someone who knew me indirectly and owned a printing house in Karak\u00f6y. He apparently lived in a waterfront mansion in Suadiye.\n\nAfter delivering the boat, I said, \u201cEnjoy it,\u201d and left the marina. The next day, Mr. Fahri called me and said, \u201cWere you really that fed up, Mr. U\u011fur? I kept looking around to wave goodbye, but you didn\u2019t even turn back.\u201d Of course, I apologized.\n\nPerhaps there was an underlying feeling in me at the time\u2014an intuition that the Sea of Marmara was becoming polluted and that fish were disappearing. I suppose that was it. After all, it\u2019s in the past now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever I found the opportunity to step away from the routine of my working life, I never had much difficulty finding things to occupy myself. Music comes first among these. My period of playing the harmonica ended during my high school years. I refer to that time as my \u201cHohner years.\u201d\n\nIn 1965, I began listening to hi-fi music. From 1970 onwards, the hi-end era began in home technology, and in 1975, I brought back from the United States a complete music system integrated with a 4400 Quadro Marantz\u2014and that\u2019s where I settled. They are now 45 years old, yet they still satisfy me.\n\nI have a strong interest in classical music. From time to time, I try to play pieces that come to mind by tapping the keys of the small Yamaha piano in our home. I have always been involved with literature, and I still am. Every Tuesday and on some weekends, we gather at the second-hand bookstore caf\u00e9 Ta\u015fl\u0131k Kahve, where we listen to invited masters of art and literature on specific topics and share our thoughts.\n\nI also have a modest collection\u2014not quite at a collector\u2019s level\u2014consisting of radios, typewriters, pens\/fountain pens, and working replicas of inventions by famous inventors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have been an admirer and donor of the Rahmi Ko\u00e7 Museum for many years. I have donated quite a number of machines there. Although rare, having the opportunity to chat with Mr. Rahmi about the museum and the Halat Restaurant is a wonderful experience for me. Recently, I have been very saddened by his illness around his 90th birthday and wish him a speedy recovery.\n\nAs for pens and fountain pens; during my time at Alt\u0131n Kitaplar, Dr. Turhan Bozkurt had many friends from the medical field, including Kaya \u00c7ilingiro\u011flu, O\u011fuz Lav, and Metin Ya\u011fc\u0131. I supported all their publications, starting from their associate professorships and continuing onward as they progressed toward becoming professors. In return, they often gifted me fountain pens. Along with others I received on various occasions, I built a modest pen collection.\n\nOne of the people with an almost excessive passion for pens and stationery is my friend Do\u011fan H\u0131zlan. I remember that H\u0131zlan was a regular visitor to stationery fairs. In fact, I believe he even inaugurated one of them together with the Minister of Culture at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My favorite gifts are also fountain pens (depending on the occasion, of course). I am truly devoted to Faber. When choosing a gift, I usually present Faber\u2019s \u201cPen of the Year.\u201d\n\nEach time I acquire a pen, my dear friend Mustafa Bol, the owner of Bay\u0131nd\u0131r Stationery, has always been there to help me. Some models are not easy to find. For example, it took me quite a long time to obtain Faber\u2019s 250th anniversary pen\u2014the four-piece ELEMENTO set in its special luxury wooden box. I couldn\u2019t bring myself to give that one away, nor the 2011 \u201cPen of the Year\u201d with jade, which coincided with my 70th birthday. I kept them for myself, hoping to pass them on to my children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s another hobby of yours that caught our attention\u2014car restoration\u2026 Could you briefly tell us about that as well?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n For the past four years, I have been involved in the restoration of Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s cars. The open-top Lincoln\u2014my favorite\u2014was the first one delivered to An\u0131tkabir. Afterwards, the second armored Lincoln was delivered. Now it\u2019s time for the third one: the Cadillac that \u0130\u015f Bankas\u0131 gifted to Atat\u00fcrk. It is also nearing completion.\n\nThe pandemic slowed things down a bit, but I am confident that my dear friend Kemal Akel\u2014an experienced team leader, retired master printer, and enthusiast of classic American cars\u2014along with his skilled team, will complete this project in the best possible way. (He also owns a pristine 1956 Chevrolet.)\n\nDuring this process, we occasionally come together\u2014sometimes in Ankara, sometimes in my office here\u2014along with Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kas\u0131m Teke, to discuss developments. These days, I have already started to feel the excitement of placing the final car in its designated spot under the third tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frekans Magazine Editor Ebulfez Demirda\u015f<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “1964 y\u0131l\u0131nda matbaac\u0131l\u0131k sekt\u00f6r\u00fcnde ba\u015flayan, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019nin en \u00f6nemli yay\u0131nlar\u0131ndan biri olan Alt\u0131n Kitaplar ile devam eden ve T\u00fcrkiye Yay\u0131nc\u0131lar Birli\u011fi\u2019nin Onur \u00dcyeli\u011fi\u2019ne uzanan bir ya\u015fam\u2026 T\u00fcrkiye\u2019nin yay\u0131nc\u0131l\u0131k hayat\u0131na ve k\u0131rtasiye sekt\u00f6r\u00fcn\u00fcn de\u011fi\u015fimine yak\u0131ndan tan\u0131kl\u0131k eden, sekt\u00f6r\u00fcn geli\u015fimine \u00f6nemli katk\u0131lar sa\u011flayan U\u011fur Gergin, dergimize konuk olarak sorular\u0131m\u0131z\u0131 yan\u0131tlad\u0131. Verdi\u011fi samimi yan\u0131tlarla ve \u00f6zel detaylarla bir d\u00f6nemin…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dergiden-haberler","post_format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4280"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16353,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4280\/revisions\/16353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tukid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.tukid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Anilar-Dostlar-ve-Basarilarla-Dolu-55-Yil-3.png\")
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