Veteran journalist Halil Salih (Hâkî) passes away
Halil Salih (pen name Hâkî), one of the most prominent figures of the Western Thrace Turkish press and the owner of İleri newspaper, has passed away on Wednesday, January 7. The late Hâkî’s funeral will be held today (Thursday, January 8) after the afternoon prayer, and he will be laid to rest in his hometown of Gebecili village.
Born in 1939 in Gebecili village of the Yassıköy Municipality in the Rodopi prefecture, Halil Hâkî completed his primary education in his native village. He graduated from Gümülcine Medrese-i Hayriye in 1956 and continued his education in Türkiye. He completed Konya Imam Hatip School in 1961 and Edirne Teachers’ Training School in 1966. After returning to Western Thrace, he fulfilled his military service between 1962 and 1964.
Following his military service, Hâkî worked as a teacher for one year each in Ortacı and Basırlıköy villages, before being dismissed from his post by the Greek authorities. In the 1966 academic year, after passing the Edirne Teachers’ School examinations, he returned to the teaching profession. Between 1966 and 1973, he served at the Western Thrace Turkish Teachers’ Union. He later continued his academic development by earning a diploma from the Open Education Faculty in 1996.
Halil Hâkî’s journalism and writing career began on November 6, 1959, with his first article published in the Öz Demokrat newspaper in Konya. Known especially for his poetry written in aruz prosody, he was regarded as a unique figure in Western Thrace in this field. His poems and articles were published in leading Turkish newspapers and magazines such as Hayat, Hürriyet, Milliyet, Türkiye, and Bursa Olay, for which he also worked as a correspondent.
On April 2, 1975, Hâkî founded İleri newspaper in Gümülcine. He published the newspaper continuously until 2006, when he retired. Recognized as one of the leading representatives of classical Turkish poetry in Western Thrace, he produced numerous poems using both syllabic and aruz meters. Between 1959 and 2009, he marked the 50th anniversary of his writing career. His works also appeared in Akın and Azınlık Postası newspapers, as well as Birlik magazine, and he translated poems from Greek and other international poets.
Through İleri newspaper, Halil Hâkî featured examples of nearly all literary genres—excluding novels—by Western Thrace Turkish poets and writers. He authored approximately 100 serialized articles and became well known for his language critiques, heavily rooted in Ottoman Turkish. In his later years, he republished his poems under the title “Examples from My Disordered Poems” (Eş’ar-ı Perişanımdan Örnekler).
Before closing İleri, Hâkî launched Cumhuriyet newspaper with the aim of training young journalists. He later transferred the publication to younger colleagues, including Sezer Rıza and Şüheda Halil, while continuing to contribute articles. On July 2, 2007, embracing a “pen independence” approach, he began publishing Nâme newspaper in A4 format. After reaching 100 issues, Nâme ceased publication on January 26, 2012.
Throughout his career, Halil Hâkî was imprisoned four times by the Greek authorities, faced approximately 30 investigations, and received prison sentences on five occasions—some lasting up to seven months. He was also subjected to heavy fines on six occasions.
Possessing a vast personal archive, Halil Hâkî published three books during his lifetime. It was reported that he also left behind approximately 15 unpublished manuscripts.
The funeral of the late Halil Hâkî will take place today (Thursday, January 8) following the afternoon prayer in Gebecili village.
As MİLLET newspaper, we pray for God’s mercy upon Halil Hâkî and extend our deepest condolences and patience to his family, loved ones, and all who admired his work.
