Turgay Kantürk

Turgay Kantürk — Biography

Turgay Kantürk is a multi-disciplinary artist whose career was built mainly on stage and in literature, with television coming later: poet, theater director, actor and writer. Wide audiences know him from television, above all as Avni Fıstıkoğlu in Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz, yet his name is tied chiefly to his poetry books and his work at the Bakırköy Municipality Theatres, where in 2019 he became general artistic director by the vote of the company's artists and technical staff.

A graduate of the Theatre Department of the Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory, he acted at the Dormen Theatre while still a student and founded a young company called Özel Tiyatro. He began directing in 1991 with Kahvede Şenlik Var at Bakırköy, and went on to stage plays there as well as for the Istanbul State Theatre and other companies. His screen career began in 2011 with the role of Ferhat in Kuzey Güney, followed by Tatar Ramazan, Serçe Sarayı, Hatırla Gönül, Kalbim Yangın Yeri and, on film, Benim Dünyam.

His first poems appeared in the magazine Oluşum in 1981. His first book, İlk Gibi Son (1991), won the Behçet Necatigil Poetry Award; earlier, in 1983, he had taken second place in the poetry contest run by Hürriyet Gösteri. After the collected volume Peri Çıkmazı came newer books such as Külden Sözler (2024) and O Derin Fısıltı (2025).