Ali Baba Karakaş

The wind of Cıvarka would whip the hair of a child playing at the foot of the snowy mountains.
On March 17, 1962, a baby was born in Varto, Muş: Ali Baba Karakaş.

The smell of chalk in the village school, hands warmed by the stove, and the soil mixed with notebook pages…
When he turned thirteen, an inner turmoil and an unnamed protest pushed him outside the threshold of his father's house. Like everyone who leaves, he wasn't alone; he was a heart growing with questions.

The road took him to İzmir. He learned the revolutionary message in the graffiti on the walls of poor neighborhoods and in the whispers that lingered into the middle of the night. He witnessed resistance. He heard the sounds of corridors in police stations. He was detained many times, the rusty doors of torture were opened wide. But the voice inside him never stopped: "Justice."

When September 12th came, the country changed, life changed.
He sought a new refuge in Istanbul. In 1982, the house he founded was filled with the sounds of children. But the harsh hand of the state did not leave him alone: ​​1993 Adana, 1996 Ankara… Again, detention. Only traces remained from those dark days.

Years of Exile
2000 was a turning point. The long prison sentence given to him swept him to another land.
As the plane left Turkey, it left behind not only a country, but also the snow of Varto, the wind of Izmir, the echoes of childhood, and his mother's voice.

When he arrived in England, the word "refugee" became not just a status; it became a thin bridge built between people and language, between memory and the past.

And literature was reborn on this bridge.

Works and Publications
Turkish:
A Letter in My Satchel – Ceylan Publications

My Love Remained in My Homeland – Ceylan Publications

Love Written on Water – Ceylan Publications

English:
A Letter in My Satchel – Ceylan Publications

Zazaki:
Siya mı Welat de Mende – NAS Publications
(The book was used as course material at Bingöl University.)

His poems have also been included in the YAŞA-DER Anthology and various literary magazines.

Today
Today, every stone that catches on the tip of his shoe while walking the streets of London calls him to Varto.
His poetry is a record book of a harsh life:
Nights of detention, the silent corridors of exile, the warmth of children's voices…

Ali Baba Karakaş brings together the harsh stones of politics and the delicate texture of literature.
One line looks to his homeland, another to a distant shore.

And amidst all this distance, humanity remains standing, leaning on one word:

Love.