Tarzan of Manisa

Carlak was born in 1899.{{Cite web|url=http://www.agaclar.net/index.php?id=2108|title=Manisa Tarzanı|author=Sunay Akın|author-link=Sunay Akın|language=Turkish|date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102130521/http://www.agaclar.net/index.php?id=2108|archive-date=2 November 2007|url-status=live}} Depending on the sources, his hometown is reported as Baghdad or Samarra. His family was of Iraqi Turkmen descent, originally from Kirkuk, Iraq. In his early teens, he met Meral, the daughter of Sheikh Tahir, a Turkmen tribal leader, and got engaged to her. Just before the wedding, World War I broke out and Carlak had to leave her. His activity during the war is unknown, but at the end he was in India, where he lived for some time in the jungle. While in Iran, he found out accidentally that the family of his fiancée had moved nearby. While planning his wedding again, he read in a newspaper that in Turkey the struggle for independence had begun. Deciding to join the insurgents, both tried to reach Anatolia. As they passed through a steep-sided gorge, his fiancée slipped, fell down a cliff and was killed. Carlak then reached the insurgents, serving under Kâzım Karabekir in the eastern front of the Turkish War of Independence.Manisa Tarzanı Biyografisi Then Carlak fought in Antep and Kilis, and belonged to one of the formations that recaptured Smyrna from the Greeks. He was wounded in the war and for his courage he received the Medal of Independence with red ribbon. Immediately after the war, Carlak settled in Manisa, which had been devastated by a fire caused by the retreating Greek army during the Greco-Turkish War. Struck by the consequences of the fire, Carlak made it his life's goal to reforest the region, single-handedly planting and cultivating innumerable trees on Mount Sipylus.

Carlak was noted for his appearance. He ceased trimming his beard in 1924, and started to become known as Hacı ("the pilgrim"). He began to dress only in a pair of shorts, with a naked torso, and lived alone for 40 years in a hut, which he called Topkale ("castle of the cannon"), named for an old cannon which he used every day to signal midday by firing a shot; because of that, the adjective topçu ("artillerist") was added to his nickname "pilgrim". Inside the hut, Carlak slept on a plank covered with old newspapers, washing himself in summer and winter with cold water. At that time he adopted the name of Ahmet Bedevi ("the Bedouin Ahmet"), although it is possible that it was the people of Manisa who called him that.{{Cite news|url=http://www.manisahayatgazetesi.com/hayatgazetesi/yazaryazilari/131 |title=Tarzan ve 'Haşlaklar' |website=www.manisahayatgazetesi.com |date=2 June 2014|language=Turkish|accessdate=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124170443/http://www.manisahayatgazetesi.com/hayatgazetesi/yazaryazilari/131|archive-date=24 January 2016|url-status=dead}} Carlak learned to write the new Turkish alphabet in Latin characters at one of the Halk Mektepleri ("school of the people", a primary school for adults established by Atatürk), and started to take part in public life.

He regularly visited the city, where he stayed at Dede Niyazi's lokanta.A simple restaurant in Turkey{{Cite news|url=https://www.manisahaberleri.com/lokantaci-dede-niyazi-makale,1369.html|title=Lokantaci Dede Niyazi|accessdate=19 May 2019|website=www.manisahaberleri.com|date=12 February 2019|publisher=Manisa Haberleri|author=Naci Yengin|language=turkish}} In exchange, Carlak brought a jar of water from the mountain to the restaurant. Sometimes he worked as an auxiliary (firefighter or gardener) for the city administration. In 1933 he may have been hired on the monthly salary of 30 Turkish liras as an assistant gardener.

In 1934, following the showing of the movie The Revenge of Tarzan at the cinemas of Manisa, Carlak was nicknamed Manisa Tarzanı (Tarzan of Manisa). Bearded and bare-chested, Carlak took part in the official victory parades commemorating the revolutionary war, wearing his medal placed on a leaf of an ornamental palm tree that he had tied around his neck.

Carlak was also a mountaineer. Together with members of the local mountaineering club, he climbed Mount Ararat, Cilo Dağı (1957), Aladağlar and Demirkazık Dağı (1959).{{Cite news|url=http://www.manisahaberleri.com/torunlari-tarzan-dedelerini-unuttular/38603|title=Torunları tarzan dedelerini unuttular|publisher=Manisahaberleri|date=31 May 2015|language=Turkish|accessdate=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531224337/http://www.manisahaberleri.com/torunlari-tarzan-dedelerini-unuttular/38603/|archive-date=31 May 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.manisahabergazetesi.com.tr/koseyazisi-1827-TURKIYENIN-ILK-DAGCILIK-KULUBU--MANISADA-KURULDU.html|title=Türkiye'nin İlk Dağcılık kulübü Manisa'da Kuruldu|website=www.manisahaberleri.com|date=14 July 2014 |language=Turkish|accessdate=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124170450/http://www.manisahabergazetesi.com.tr/koseyazisi-1827-TURKIYENIN-ILK-DAGCILIK-KULUBU--MANISADA-KURULDU.html|archive-date=24 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} In 1959, he was a guest in Konya and Niğde with members of the Manisa Alpine Club. His presence attracted tens of thousands of spectators. In Konya, he was initially denied entry to the Mevlana Museum because of his naked torso. At that point, he pointed to Mevlana's inscription above the door, which said, "Come to me, whatever you are!" and went in.

Carlak never married: however, he allegedly received many love letters over the years which were lost after his death.{{Cite news|url=http://manisainternethaber.com/roportaj/60/o_bir_halk_kahramani!.html|title=O bir halk kahramanı!|website=manisainternethaber.com|date=30 May 2014|language=Turkish|accessdate=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503144710/http://manisainternethaber.com/roportaj/60/o_bir_halk_kahramani!.html|archive-date=3 May 2019|url-status=live}}

Carlak died on May 31, 1963, at the Manisa State Hospital of heart failure. On 1 June 1963, Hürriyet reported on his death with the article "The Tarzan of Manisa is dead".{{Cite news|url=http://cdn.gecmisgazete.com/assets/haberresim/2013-05-31/10680_11358.jpg|title=Manisa'nin Tarzan'ı öldü|date=1 June 1963|language=Turkish|work=Hürriyet|accessdate=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518070548/http://cdn.gecmisgazete.com/assets/haberresim/2013-05-31/10680_11358.jpg|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=live}} Carlak was buried in the new cemetery ("Asrî Mezarlık") of Manisa, despite his last wish, that he be buried at Topkale.

The city of Manisa continues to pay tribute to Carlak. The environment week in the Aegean city has been named "Manisa Tarzanı Çevre Günleri Haftası". On this occasion, the municipal administration awards the "Tarzan awards". Furthermore, the city has named an elementary school (the "Manisa Tarzanı Ahmet Bedevi İlkokulu") and a boulevard ("Tarzan Bulvarı") named in Carlak's honour. In 2012, a solar energy car developed by students from Celal Bayar University of Manisa was named Manisa Tarzanı .{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/a-solar-car-inspired-by-manisas-own-tarzan|title=A Solar Car Inspired by Manisa's Own Tarzan|author=Marianne Lavelle|date=19 May 2012|accessdate=18 May 2019|publisher=National Geographic}}

In the Fatih Parkı of Manisa, a life-size monument representing Carlak has been erected, known as Tarzan Heykeli. Each year, the authorities of Manisa commemorate him on the anniversary of his death, honoring him as a precursor of Turkish environmentalism.{{Cite news|url=http://www.manisahaber45.com/manisa-tarzani-mezari-basinda-anildi-21248.html|title=Manisa Tarzanı Mezarı Başında Anıldı|date=31 May 2018 |accessdate=3 May 2019|work=ManisaHaber|language=Turkish}} In sports, fans of Manisaspor call themselves Tarzanlar ("Tarzans") [http://www.turkish-football.com/team_profile.php?teamID=55 www.turkish-football.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017021946/http://turkish-football.com/team_profile.php?teamID=55 |date=2011-10-17 }} and, in 2015, a local cross-country skiing event was named Manisa Tarzanı.

Carlak's life has been the subject of several books, and of a 1994 film shot by director Orhan Oğuz entitled Manisa Tarzanı.{{Cite magazine|author=Umberto Rossi|title=Il cinema turco sta male, ma non vuole morire |magazine=Cineforum |year=1995 |number=344 |page=18 |url=http://www.cineforum.it/rivista/344 |language=Italian}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/134670/Manisa-Tarzani/overview |title=Tarzan of Manisa |accessdate=1 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011170513/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/134670/Manisa-Tarzani/overview |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |author=Sandra Brennan |date=2015 |archive-date=11 October 2015}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111366/|title=Tarzan of Manisa |website=www.imdb.com |accessdate=3 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328033214/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111366/ |archive-date=28 March 2017 |url-status=live}} The film is considered the first Turkish film with an ecological subject, and was submitted by Turkey for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, although later it did not reach the nomination.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995 |title=The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=26 September 2015 |work=oscars.org}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|title=Onlar Hep Oradaydı|author=Sunay Akın|author-link=Sunay Akın|publisher=Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları|year=2005|location=Istanbul|language=Turkish}}
• {{Cite book|title=Yeşilin Atası Manisa Tarzanı|author=Bedriye Aksakal|year=1993|language=Turkish}}
• {{Cite web|url=https://www.biyografi.info/kisi/manisa-tarzani-ahmet-bedevi|title=Manisa Tarzanı Ahmet Bedevi Biyografisi|accessdate=18 May 2019|language=Turkish|website=biyografi.info}}

Category:Turkish environmentalists

Category:Turkish mountain climbers

Category:Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red Ribbon (Turkey)

Category:Turkish people of Iraqi Turkmen descent

Category:People from Samarra

Category:1899 births

Category:1963 deaths

Category:Turkish military personnel of the Turkish War of Independence