Biography Mehmet Taşdiken
Mehmet Taşdiken was born in Çavuş, now in the district of Hüyük, which formerly was a village that belonged to Beyşehir/Konya. He completed primary and secondary school in Beyşehir. Then he went to college at the Kabataş Erkek Lisesi in Istanbul. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Turkish Language and Literature of Istanbul University. He is the Chairman of the turistic, educational and culturally active agency Afitaş, that he founded in 1989. He is at the same time the Chairman of the famous “Fransız Sokağı” (French Street) in Istanbul, that he founded in 2004 and the Chairman of the Eternal Gratitude Association that he founded in 2009. He was a columnist at Radikal newspaper and also wrote for newspapers and magazines such as Hürses, Pınar, Sabah İstanbul and Türk Edebiyatı. He has published several books like Berduş Düşünceler (Rover thoughts) , Han Buyruğu, Itri, Beş Çayı (5 o clock tea), Bir Sevdadır Çobanlık (To be Shepherd is love) and plays like “Uçun Kuşlar” (fly birds) and “Su Verin Mebbus Beye” (Give Mr. Mebbus water) which played in the “Istanbul Central Theatre” (İstanbul Merkez Tiyatrosu) that was founded and managed by himself. In 2004, he designed and realized the first project of a thematic street with İstanbul Fransız Sokağı. He won the Teşvikiye Rotary Club price for success in business for this project. Following the wish of the former Konak Municipality mayor Muzaffer Tunçağ, he started to a urban transformation project of the Izmir Basmane Quarter, which is the ancient Quarter where Izmir was actually founded in Roman times. The project continues. 1999 – 2002 Head Counsellor of the Mayor of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality During this period, he contributed to the design of the surroundings of Galata tower, to Istanbul becoming a European Capital of Culture, to the Miniatürk and the Panorama Istanbul museum. As a film producer, director and senarist he continues his work. As the latest he produced 39 episodes of “Dönmeyenler” (Migrants who did not return to Turkey). 5 episodes of his film “Yurdumda ölmek istiyorum” (I want to die in my homeland) and 3 episodes of the famous turkish soap “5 numarali kamp” (Camp Nr. 5) where screened on the Turkish channel TGRT. The Turkish television channel TRT 1 screened 23 episodes of the series “Yuva” where he was the producer, director and senarist and the series “Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu”, where he was the senarist. 16 episodes of his documentary “Türkistan Işığı” was published by TGRT. Mehmet Taşdiken apart from that produced a Turkish cinema film called “Bizim Eller” (Our hands). To pay his debt to his homeland and to revive Anatolia as a center for a cosmopolitic culture and art, he founded the Village of Eternal Gratitude (Sonsuz Şükran Köyü) close to Çavuş/Konya on non-profit and universal principles of human values in cooperation with famous Turkish and international artists, film directors, journalists, scientists, achitects and historians. Mehmet Taşdiken was among the founders of the “Tolerance Movement Association” (Hoşgörü Hareketi Derneği) in Turkey and was the chairman of the association for 4 years in the 1990s. In this period he also organized the International Türkovizyon Song Contest that was life-broadcasted by the Turkish state TRT television TRT. Mehmet Taşdiken is the chairman of the Eternal Gratitude Association and was also the chairman of the Literature Society for one term. He is a member of the Beyoğlu Beautification Association (“Beyoğlu Güzelleştirme Derneği”) and the Association to protect the Basmane cultural heritage (“Basmane Kültürel Mirası Koruma Derneği”). He is the chairman of the “Çarşamba Buluşmaları” (Wednesday Meetings) Group, a weekly cultural discussion round. He is at the same time the iniator of the “Wednesday Meetings” in which artists, journalists, businessmen, managers and other socially and culturally active people have been meeting and networking for 18 years (founded in 1994). For more information visit: www.mehmettasdiken.com |