THE TURKISH CARTOONISTS ASSOCIATION
Turhan Selçuk is also one of the founders of the Turkish Cartoonists Association.
Semih Balcıoğlu, another renowned Turkish artist, recounts in “I Drew First and Then I Wrote” (2001) the founding story of the said association which they have started together with Ferit Öngören:
“I remember very well the first two attempts to found an association. Firstly, when he was working in Vatan, Altan Erbulak made an attempt. The second one was that of Çetin Özkırım’s, which took so much time and ended in dispair... Neither of them, however, were really serious. There was even no draft of regulations in hand.
Following his graduation from the Law School, Ferit Öngören seriously took the initiative and started with three founding members, including Turhan and myself. He prepared a detailed book of regulations and met with everybody individually asking for their approval. When all the procedures were completed we applied to the Istanbul Governorship on 29 August 1969 and the association was formally established.
The year 1970 was the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Caricature. With regard to this occasion, ourobjective was to bring together all the caricaturists together under one roof and celebrate the hundredth year as widely as possible. Our objectives also included spreading caricature both nationwide and worldwide, educating and training young caricaturists and organising exhibits.”
