Can Yücel

Can Yücel, one of the most original voices in Turkish poetry, spent his final years settled in Old Datça, immortalising his devotion by titling one of his books "Let Datça Be My Place". He died on 12 August 1999 and was buried in Datça's İskele Cemetery, sent off with the sunflowers he loved. His house and library in Old Datça open to visitors each 12 August, and the street he lived on bears his name.

He positioned Datça as a "poets' town" in Turkey's cultural geography; his name is inscribed into the streets and collective memory of Old Datça. Through his translations of Shakespeare, Lorca and Brecht and his exuberant vernacular poetry, he became a symbol of the town's cultural identity.