Following his visit to Salt Turkish War Memorial, Minister Avcı arrived in capital Amman and visited the Princess Rahma School.

Minister Avcı who was greeted with great enthusiasm by the children chatted with students and gave pencils to them as a present. After posing in front of cameras with the children, Minister Avcı visited classrooms and watched a special performance prepared in his honor.

Minister Avcı did not forget Palestinian Poet Mahmut Derviş

Minister Avcı while talking to the students found out that the name of the class teacher is Mahmut Derviş and asked the students if they knew who Mahmut Derviş was. When a student responded by saying he was a Palestinian poet, Minister Avcı asked the students if they can recite one of his poems.  

Minister Avcı borrowed a tablet from a student and said, “His poems are not present in these machines. These computers make everything easier and allow us to do things faster. These are necessary but our own memories, knowledge and works are more important. If Allah allows, we might recite Mahmut Derviş’s poems from memory next time we meet.”

Minister Avcı wished success to the children and asked them, “Do you promise to recite poems of Mahmut Derviş?”

His counterpart Jordanian Minister of National Education Mohammed Thneibat accompanied Minister Avcı during his visit.

Who is Mahmut Derviş?

Being one of the prominent poets of contemporary Palestinian poetry, Mahmut Derviş had to migrate to Jordan with his family in 1948 when he was a little child after Israel invaded his native village.

He started writing poems during his primary school years when he had to walk two kilometers every day in order to go to school. He was involved in activities as a part of “El-arz” front while his early works were published. He served as editor in chief of “El İttihad” and “El-Cedid” newspapers.

The Palestinian poet whose works were translated into more than 20 languages had won the International Nazım Hikmet Poetry Award in 1982. He won the Lenin Award in the Soviet Union in 1984 with his eulogy on Beirut which he wrote after the massacre in Sabra and Chatilla in September 1982. The poet who was repeatedly arrested and jailed for his poems and essays was famous for telling the struggle of the Palestinian people. His name was mentioned among the candidates for the Nobel Literature Prize in 2006 and his poems showing lyric examples focused on history of mankind and a wide geography. The poet who was exiled from Israel in 1970 had to live in various different Arabic countries for two years. He visited Turkey in May 2008 as a part of 2nd Beyoğlu Poetry Festival.

Approximately 20 of his books were translated into Turkish. Derviş passed away after an open heart surgery.